Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan's Ditié 1793613168, 9781793613165

Citation preview

Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan’s Ditié

Green_9781793613165.indb 1

15-04-2021 13:10:25

Green_9781793613165.indb 2

15-04-2021 13:10:25

Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan’s Ditié Karen Green

LEXINGTON BOOKS

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London

Green_9781793613165.indb 3

15-04-2021 13:10:25

Published by Lexington Books An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www​.rowman​.com 6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Control Number: 2021933348 ISBN 978-1-7936-1316-5 (cloth : alk. Paper) ISBN 978-1-7936-1317-2 (electronic) ∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Green_9781793613165.indb 4

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Contents

List of Figures

vii

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Christine de Pizan

13

2 Christine’s “Ditié” 23 3 Penthesilea’s Charity

37

4 Joan’s Testimony

51

5 The Ladies’ Champion 63 6 A Very Little Golden Ring

93

7 Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

109

8 The Flying Stag

131

9 Chartier’s Hope

145

10 A Sacred Sword

161

11 Franciscans and Bourbons

173

12 Christine’s Whereabouts

195

Conclusion 213 Bibliography 219 Index 233 About the Author

241 v

Green_9781793613165.indb 5

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Green_9781793613165.indb 6

15-04-2021 13:10:26

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 The Sibyl Shows Christine the Firmament, Le Chemin de longue estude. 17 Figure 2.1 Christine Presents Epistre Othea to Louis of Orleans. 26 Figure 2.2 Christine Leads Virtuous Women into the City of Ladies, Cité des dames. 30 Figure 3.1 Joan’s Letter to the Duke of Burgundy. 45 Figure 4.1 Joan and Judith, Le Champion des Dames. 52 Figure 5.1 The Castle of Love, Le Champion des Dames. 67 Figure 5.2 The Cemetery of Love, Le Champion des dames. 73 Figure 11.1 Saint Catherine Presents a Knight to the Virgin Mary. 186 Figure 11.2 Othea Teaching a Knight, Epistre Othea. 187 Figure 11.3 Livre du corps de policie, Chantilly. 190 Figure 12.1 The Advis. 204

vii

Green_9781793613165.indb 7

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Green_9781793613165.indb 8

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Acknowledgments

It has taken many years from the first tentative speculations, which resulted in the research behind this book, for it to emerge as a piece of respectable scholarship. Some will, no doubt, still question its conclusions, and the many individuals who have helped its slow progress are in no way responsible for its remaining shortcomings. Among these were, first of all my late father, Louis Green, who giggled when I proposed that Christine de Pizan might have had something to do with the appearance of Joan of Arc, but who encouraged me to read Deborah Fraioli’s important book on the early debate concerning Joan, and who helped with the interpretation of some Latin texts. Thanks are due also to Constant J. Mews for many years of collaboration on Christine de Pizan’s political thought, as well as to Janice Pinder and Alan Crosier, who worked with us on the translation of Christine’s Livre de paix. Earl Jeffrey Richards, Tracy Adams, and James Laidlaw are to be thanked for their advice and encouragement in relation to my researches into Christine de Pizan, while special thanks are owed to Judith Buckrich for reading the penultimate draft and offering helpful stylistic advice.

ix

Green_9781793613165.indb 9

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Green_9781793613165.indb 10

15-04-2021 13:10:26

Introduction

On the last day of July 1429, Christine de Pizan (1364–c.1430) put the finishing touches to a poem celebrating the miracle of Joan of Arc (1412–1431). In the preceding months, Joan had relieved Orleans, participated in the defeat of the English at Patay, and led the dauphin Charles to be crowned at Reims. Joan’s story is well known. Many who pick up this book will already have read it, perhaps in a children’s version like that of Andrew Lang, or in one of the more grown up accounts by Jules Michelet, Vita Sackville-West, Anatole France, Georges Bernard Shaw, Régine Pernoud, or Marina Warner.1 A few will even have seen it illustrated in all its vivid and sentimental detail at the Basilica above Domremy. Many more will know it from a movie or play. Wherever one has come across it, Joan’s life appears to be fairy tale, a “once upon a time” story, which goes like this. Once upon a time there was a poor peasant girl who was tending her sheep. One midsummer day in 1425, she looked up and saw a vision, accompanied by a bright light: the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret appeared to her and spoke, “Joan, you must go to France and crown the dauphin.” The girl trembled, “Why me?” But the voices were persistent. Following the words of her visions she secretly left her parents’ house and presented herself to Baudricourt at Vaucouleurs, telling him that he must send her to the king. Understandably he scoffed at her pretensions, but later miraculously relented. Hurriedly a small escort was found to take Joan on the perilous journey across France to Chinon. The king’s counselors prevaricated and refused to believe the innocent girl’s claim to have been sent by God. Finally, they agreed to allow her to go to Orleans to relieve the town, which the English were then besieging. At Orleans, there was a miraculous change in the wind, which allowed the town to be provisioned. Led by the inspired young 1

Green_9781793613165.indb 1

15-04-2021 13:10:27

2

Introduction

woman, the French troops defeated the English, raised the siege, and then chased the English troops to Patay where they subjected them to a further defeat. Next, against the opposition of the still distrustful entourage of the dauphin, Joan led the dauphin to Reims where he was crowned. But despite this great triumph, the doubters foiled her next project: they would not allow her to march immediately on Paris. In September a belated attempt on the city was repulsed. The next spring, during an offensive against Compiègne, Joan was captured by the Burgundians, sold to the English, tried by the Inquisition, and abandoned by the king she had crowned. On May 30, 1431, she was burned at Rouen as a lapsed heretic. The fairy story has become part of the national mythology of the French and despite the sporadic emergence, since the eighteenth century, of skeptical voices, it has been repeatedly embellished and reworked, according to the perspective of each new age. In Michelet’s nineteenth-century version, Joan rose from the people, inspired by a simple vision grounded in the common sense of the people. Her simple faith was too pure for the feudal courtiers, who ultimately abandoned her, but her inspiration has served the French well in times of national distress. The miracle of Joan’s faith lives on as an image with which to rally the French to defend their nation. As such it has played an important role in the development of French nationalism. But should a contemporary historian accept this fairy tale as literal fact? This book takes a fresh look at Joan of Arc as a historical figure, who arose out of a distinct cultural milieu. Its discussion is grounded in two poems, and a treatise written by a poet. One of these, among the earliest sources of the fairy tale, is by another woman, the court poet, historian, and author of political tracts, Christine de Pizan. The second, written twenty years after Joan’s death, is by a less well-known writer, Martin le Franc (c.1410–1461). It praises both Joan and Christine, and many other women who, like them, had shown the falsity of male slanders against women. The third, by Alain Chartier (1385–1430), was written on the cusp of Joan of Arc’s appearance and seems to anticipate her arrival. The research for this book began with a bold hypothesis. This was the surmise that Christine de Pizan trained Joan of Arc. The surmise was prompted by a coincidence, noticed by others but not fully explored, that there are numerous heroic females in Christine de Pizan’s pre-Joan writings, who seem to prefigure and anticipate Joan. Christine’s Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la cité des dames), written in 1405, argued for women’s virtue and valor and praised the feats of the Amazons. Christine was also a fervent supporter of the French monarchy. When Joan appeared, she miraculously accomplished all of Christine’s aspirations, both for women and for France. The question that intrigued me was whether this was just a coincidence, or

Green_9781793613165.indb 2

15-04-2021 13:10:27

Introduction

3

whether there could be a deeper connection between Christine’s belief that women can achieve great things and Joan’s mission.2 At first this hypothesis was an entertaining piece of bravura, shared with friends and family, over a meal or in front of the fire. It made my late father, Louis Green, who was an academic historian, giggle. He told me to read Deborah Fraioli’s then new book, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate.3 I expected, at first, that the hypothesis would soon be falsified. But this was not the case. Pursuing the question inspired a deepened interest in Christine’s activities and political philosophy, so I embarked on a research project, with colleagues Constant Mews, Janice Pinder, and Alan Crozier, which resulted in the publication of a translation of Christine’s Book of Peace and a deepening appreciation of the part that Christine had played in the political events of the early fifteenth century.4 At the same time, I read all that I could lay my hands on concerning Joan, and investigated her milieu. That research demonstrated that, at the very least, there are numerous ways in which the lives of these two remarkable women were interconnected. As I examined these connections, and the beliefs and attitudes of the people who fought with Joan, she came to seem a much less miraculous figure than she had been represented as being. Following the logic of works written by Christine, and the content of Martin le Franc’s poem, I concluded that a sensible historian, examining the available evidence, ought to accept that Joan was trained. This then left me with the residual question: Could Christine, whose ideology and writing is redolent with many of the ideas and aspirations expressed by Joan, have been involved? The first attempts to publish the material that resulted from my investigations were rejected as too fanciful. The work was deemed to fall between two stools, neither sober scholarship nor historical fiction. At one stage I attempted to work up what I had learned as fiction, but the readers of that attempt rejected it as sounding too much like history. I realized that I was not interested in a fictionalized account; I wanted to know what actually happened. Further research in libraries and archives convinced me that this is probably impossible; the sources are so corrupt, contradictory, and unreliable that the best historians are led to rely on various surmises, some of which have established themselves as truths. Nevertheless, I have set out, in this version, to keep surmises to a minimum, until the very end. A critical examination of the evidence suggests that it is unlikely that Joan actually heard disembodied voices. Her behavior was too rational for her to have been subject to hallucinations. Miracles are always implausible, and the thought that God actually saved France by the means suggested in the traditional tale has to be viewed with some skepticism.5 It is far more plausible that the secret advisers, to whom Joan referred at her trial, were people, who in the light of authoritative prophecies taught her how to act in

Green_9781793613165.indb 3

15-04-2021 13:10:27

4

Introduction

order to play her part as the instrument of God’s will. Since Christine’s Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc (which I will henceforth call the Ditié for short) represents Joan as coming to fulfill these prophecies, and since we know that Christine believed in such prophecies long before Joan appeared, it is at least possible that Christine was one of these people.6 But it might be asked, why attempt to destroy the fairy tale? Many conspiracy theories concerning Joan, as well as hypothetical accounts of her significance, have been suggested and later falsified. Margaret Murray surmised that Joan was a member of an ancient witch-cult. Pierre de Sermoise and Maurice David-Darnac tell a tale according to which she was the illegitimate daughter of Louis of Orleans and Isabeau of Bavaria.7 Associated with this it has been claimed that she was not burned but survived and married.8 These hypotheses have been thoroughly falsified.9 One might wonder therefore whether it is helpful to propose yet another version of Joan’s well-worn story. Nevertheless, there are at least two good reasons for doing so. The first is that the accepted history is incoherent. If one thinks that in 1429 God saved the French monarchy by a most unreliable means (using visions to send an illiterate female peasant from the other side of the country) one must wonder how he could then have allowed it to be destroyed in 1789. Alternatively, if one thinks that God did not have a hand in Joan’s appearance, one has to swallow the idea that a young woman, who suffered hallucinations, could persuade a court to follow her and by chance meet with considerable success. The first reason, then, for looking at Joan as a historical figure is simply that the accepted story is wildly unbelievable. The second reason is that in the first years of the fifteenth century two significant women made history, and the weight of demonstrable and merely plausible connections between them has not yet been fully appreciated. A theory about the past is written in the present, from a knowledge of things as they are in the present. In effect, historians will always develop hypotheses about past events, which are extrapolated from a knowledge of present regularities, and which are liable to future falsification. The interpretation of Joan offered in this book is grounded in a new attitude to women’s history and it builds on a florescence of research into Christine de Pizan. During the past forty years, scholars have become increasingly aware that previous historians have failed to take into account the activities of women. Examining Joan in the light of the women connected both to her and to the men with whom she fought allows us to cast Joan’s adventures in a new light. For there is tangible, albeit circumstantial, evidence that Joan’s appearance was the outcome of a secret intervention into the course of France’s civil war by one or more politically motivated men and women, who believed in the truth of a prophetic interpretation of the future. There is every reason to believe that these men and women were inspired by a biblical and prophetic

Green_9781793613165.indb 4

15-04-2021 13:10:27

Introduction

5

understanding of history which can be found in the writings of Christine de Pizan. Whether or not one is convinced that there is a causal connection between Christine’s writing and Joan’s appearance, what is certain is that these two women were contemporaries and significant historical actors. Women have been told that they have not made history. Even as great a feminist as Simone de Beauvoir accepted that women have no history of their own. Their history, she asserted, following Marx and Engels, is merely an epiphenomenon of the central drama of class conflict played out between men.10 Joan and her ilk are represented by her as oddities remembered because they are exceptions and anomalies among women. And it is no doubt because she is such an exception, so much out of the ordinary, and miraculous, that Joan has been so easily incorporated into a nationalistic and largely masculine history in which the activities of women are typically represented as belonging to an ahistorical netherworld—an unconscious repetition of species life. Exceptionally, Joan is almost universally known, particularly in France, where the country is littered with statues, stained glass windows, and streets commemorating her achievements. By contrast, Christine, though she is emerging from the shadows, has remained largely unrecognized, particularly in France, where her works are only just beginning to be widely taught and their study often remains the province of medievalists. Despite her considerable success and reputation during her lifetime, historians, until recently, have largely ignored Christine. Like Joan she was an exception, but she was no miracle. Her dogged pursuit of learning and renown, her successes and her failures, are merely unusual, not miraculous. They provide women with an ideal to which they can readily aspire. It has served well, for those who have maintained women’s inferiority and historical insignificance, that Christine, a thoroughly attested intellectual woman, deeply committed to the restoration of political stability and a strong monarchy in France, should be forgotten. While the anomalous Joan, an innocent shepherdess, whose intervention seems utterly miraculous, should be remembered. Her exploits, unique and unrepeatable, have been understood as a demonstration of the enormity of the power of God. Alternatively, they are the miraculous expression of the unquenchable spirit and common sense of the people. More recently her importance as a historical actor has been questioned. Represented as just one among a troupe of more or less crazy, “inspired” purveyors of irrational prophecies, her contemporaries’ belief in her has been attributed to the superstitious character of the times.11 There is undoubtedly a measure of truth in this, for the period was one when apocalyptic and prophetic voices were eagerly pursued. Yet, this dismissive attitude fails to take into account the logic of her behavior and the extent to which she

Green_9781793613165.indb 5

15-04-2021 13:10:28

6

Introduction

was able to persuade Charles’s prelates, who were wary of false prophets, to believe in her. The history of Joan is inextricably bound up with the church’s attitudes to her. First, wanting to place its authority and right to speak for God above all things, the church tried to make a heresy of wearing men’s clothes, twisted Joan’s words so that she fell into theological error, and condemned her as a lapsed heretic. Later, wanting to attribute a woman’s achievements to God (rather than to the woman herself), and seeking an icon for their nationalism, men embraced her as a venerable cipher and medium of God’s divine intervention on behalf of the people of France. Yet the classic tale of the peasant girl, who heard the voices of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, while tending her sheep, is concocted out of quite inconsistent elements. It mixes suspect evidence from Joan’s trial with the later hagiography written for a royalty who had benefited from Joan’s intervention. In this account, I try to see her as a young woman, connected to other women, and to make sense of her movements, knowledge, and activity. The story of Joan as a real woman, acting on the advice of women and men, to bring about peace and justice, is a story for our time—a story about the things that women can do and have done. It is a story to inspire women of the future, just as Christine’s Book of the City of Ladies was intended to inspire women of the past. The ideas and images that were used to justify accepting Joan, particularly the idea of the virgin warrior who saves her people, had all received a vivid contemporary articulation by Christine, in texts that were well known to the people who surrounded Joan. The ideology and iconography that Christine developed during the first fifteen years of the fifteenth century reemerge in the discourse that is used to justify a belief in the possibility that a woman might be sent by God to save her people. This book demonstrates that many of the people closest to Joan knew Christine and possessed manuscripts of her works. It shows that the intellectual and ideological space for receiving Joan was opened up by Christine. The thematic coincidence between Christine’s writing and Joan’s activities and words allow us to conclude that the arguments, images, and stories set out in Christine’s books provided the materials for depicting Joan. More strongly, the prophetic interpretation of history that influenced Christine, and which is expounded in some of her works, can be used to explain how and why Joan appeared. Not only the knights who surrounded Joan, but also Jean Gerson (1363– 1429) and Alain Chartier, two of the people most responsible for contemporary writings which set out the reasons for believing in Joan’s mission, had a demonstrable acquaintance with Christine and with her son, Jean Castel (c. 1382–1425), who was, until his death, one of the secretaries of the dauphin Charles. In order to demonstrate the possibility of a connection between Christine’s writings and Joan’s appearance, this book explores the many

Green_9781793613165.indb 6

15-04-2021 13:10:28

Introduction

7

neglected intersections between their lives. The first was a mature woman in her sixties, a writer of poetry and political treatises, who had made her living producing beautiful manuscripts during the first decades of the fifteenth century. The second was a virgin warrior, whose sudden appearance helped change the course of French history. These two lives are most obviously connected through Christine’s Ditié. In standard histories there is little else to suggest any further connection between them.12 Yet a closer examination of sources shows that there are many threads which tie Joan’s exploits to the life and writings of Christine. The second poem on which this account builds is Martin le Franc’s The Ladies’ Champion (Le Champion des dames), written in 1441. It also connects Christine and Joan, and provides direct evidence that Joan was trained. It also suggests that whoever was behind Joan’s appearance was linked to a group of French noblewomen. This poem offers clear documentary evidence that Joan did not spring miraculously from the fields of Lorraine but was prepared for her role by people who well understood the art of warfare and the prophetic tradition of historical interpretation to which Christine subscribed. In chapter 1 of this book I provide a brief outline of the life and writings of Christine. Those who are already familiar with her life will find little that is novel here, but since it is still not widely known it provides vital information for other readers of the book. Chapter 2 uses the first four verses of Christine’s Ditié to introduce a sketch of Joan’s career, and to identify the knights who surrounded her at the coronation. It begins the task of showing how closely connected Joan’s companions were to Christine: some of them knew her personally, others were connected to her through their female relations, or through their own or their wives’ or mothers’ ownership of manuscripts of Christine’s works. In chapter 3, introduced by the nine verses of Christine’s Ditié in which she describes Joan’s mission, it is shown that the image of Joan, as she was represented in her lifetime, was anticipated in texts that Christine had written thirty years previously. This chapter examines how Joan was represented by her contemporaries, and the prophecies and images which were circulated in order to encourage people to believe in her mission. It shows, by means of examples, that all the main features of the poem are to be found in works written by Christine prior to the appearance of Joan. For Christine had hoped for a miracle to save France and promoted the prophetic ideas found in her Ditié long before Joan appeared. We turn in chapter 4 to a reading of the trial record, the statements made at the rehabilitation, and to a discussion of the early debate as to whether the dauphin and his advisers should believe in Joan’s mission. Here I argue that there is no reliable evidence that Joan saw apparitions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. Rather statements to this effect were extracted from her at the trial, so as to trick her into falling into theological error. These

Green_9781793613165.indb 7

15-04-2021 13:10:28

8

Introduction

statements cannot be taken at face value. The chapter also points out that, given the frequent mention of secrets, as well as the apparent public visibility of Joan’s “voices,” and the conclusion of the Council of Poitiers, we have every reason to believe that human agents were involved in preparing Joan for the part she was to play. Chapter 5 begins to discuss heretofore unrecognized evidence for the involvement of a group of royal women in Joan’s appearance. This chapter also contains a detailed reading of Martin le Franc’s The Ladies’ Champion and shows how le Franc represents Joan as a new addition to the catalog of Amazons that Christine had provided in her Book of the City of Ladies. It argues that le Franc deliberately represents Christine as being akin to the sibyls and hence, by implication, suggests that she had prophetic powers. Le Franc’s poem is read as a retelling of the historical process that had led up to the peace of Arras, which is intended to remind Philip of Burgundy of the role that certain women and men had played. It also argues that the poem is meant to emphasize the extent to which this process was an example of the intercessory power of the Virgin Mary. Following le Franc’s hints that queens, duchesses, and princesses were involved in the appearance of Joan, chapter 6 examines the story of the ring that Joan sent to Jeanne-Anne Laval, and highlights the coincidence that this woman is someone who was an acquaintance of Christine’s, to whom she refers in her works. Here we tease out the family connections between the Lavals, d’Albrets, Louis of Vendôme, and Jacques de la Marche and demonstrate their friendships with Christine. We examine the way in which the representation of Joan, as a prophesied savior of France, echoes the poetic representation of Jeanne-Anne Laval’s first husband, Bertrand du Guesclin. This example serves to demonstrate how common it was at the period for the successes of ordinary people to be represented as the fulfillment of prophecies. Such prophecies were widely believed, and Joan was understood by her contemporaries as the fulfillment of some of these well-known prophecies, as Christine makes clear. Continuing with the image of Christine herself as a prophetic voice, chapter 7 begins with the verses of Christine’s Ditié in which she refers to the prophecies of Merlin, Sibyl, and Bede. It explains the history and significance of these prophecies and demonstrates that Christine knew of them long before she wrote the Ditié. This leads into a discussion of the use of political prophecy during this period. It has been shown that when she appeared at Chinon, Joan was quickly associated with the prophecies to which Christine refers, and was represented as analogous to the Old Testament heroines, Deborah, Judith, and Esther. Here it is argued that it is more likely that Joan represented her mission in these terms, rather than that Charles VII’s counselors quickly put together this way of representing her, as has been suggested in other

Green_9781793613165.indb 8

15-04-2021 13:10:29

Introduction

9

accounts of this period of Joan’s career. A reading of the prophetic tradition alluded to in the Ditié is developed in chapter 8, which outlines the content and history of the Second Charlemagne Prophecy. This prophecy can be read as pointing to the time of Joan’s appearance, a circumstance fortuitously enhanced by the fact that, in the same year, a jubilee of the Virgin was being celebrated at Puy-en-Velay. Returning to the imagery and hints in Martin le Franc’s The Ladies’ Champion, chapter 9 looks at the career of Alain Chartier, a poet and secretary of Charles VII, who began his career in the household of Yolande of Aragon (1381–1442), duchess of Anjou, and Queen of Sicily. This imagery leads us to consider Chartier’s Treatise on Hope (Traité de l’espérance) in which he evokes the tradition of apocalyptic prophecy and anticipates the arrival of a figure like Joan. Given the fact that the treatise was apparently written a couple of months prior to her appearance, this strongly suggests that Chartier anticipated her arrival. Moreover, Joan’s otherwise inexplicable knowledge of and interest in the Hussites is comprehensible if one sees her as having been influenced by Chartier, who had traveled to Hungary to preach against this sect. The discussion of the appearance of crusading imagery in Joan’s life is continued in chapter 10, which turns to the story of the sword that Joan sent for, which was found behind the altar of Saint Catherine at Fierbois. The significance of this sword is examined, as is the way this incident points to a further intersection between Joan’s life and Christine. This comes from the fact that the Chapel of Saint Catherine at Fierbois was associated with Jean II le Meingre (1366–1421) had been extensively praised by Christine as the foremost member of the chivalric association, the Order of the Green Shield with the White Lady (l’Ordre de l’escu vert à la dame blanche). A number of the knights who fought at Joan’s side were either members of or the sons of members of this order, set up to defend women after the disaster of Nicopolis. In chapter 11 the discussion of Joan’s possible associates is further developed by again returning to Martin le Franc’s poem and discussing the women that he mentions and their family connections. Spelling out contemporary belief in political prophecy, and the role played by the Franciscans in promoting this tradition, it examines the relationship between Jacques de la Marche (1370–1438), Colette of Corbie (1381–1447), and the Bourbon and Armagnac families. Many years ago, in his account of Joan’s mission, Siméon Luce pointed to Joan’s probable Franciscan connections.13 The Joachimite prophetic tradition, which earlier chapters show was the basis for the prophecies relating to Joan’s mission, was traditionally associated with the Franciscans. If Joan was trained, as le Franc suggests, her connections with these Franciscans helps explain both how and why this occurred. The argument up to this point of the book is that it is likely agents who were familiar with the prophetic tradition prepared Joan to play her role as the

Green_9781793613165.indb 9

15-04-2021 13:10:29

10

Introduction

instrument of God’s will, not cynically, but because they believed that a propitious time was at hand. It also establishes that Christine had all the beliefs required of such an agent and had set them out in her works. But this evidence is merely circumstantial and does not show that there was any direct contact between Christine and Joan. In the final chapter (chapter 12), I explore the fragment of evidence that has been taken to show that Christine spent the period from 1418 to 1429 in a convent at Poissy, many miles away from Domremy. I argue that it is very unlikely that Christine was at Poissy and the evidence of her poem celebrating Joan suggests that it is more likely that she spent the eleven years of her exile elsewhere. There is an abbey which owned land in Domremy, and which was sufficiently close to the village that Joan could have met someone living there. This is the abbey of Mureau. In the conclusion, I throw off the scholarly caution of the preceding chapters and develop the surmise that this was the abbey where Christine spent the period from 1418 to 1429. Although this book is based on a good deal of original scholarly research, conducted over a number of decades, I have attempted to make it accessible to nonspecialists. Where there is an established English version of a name, I have used it. In other cases, I have retained the French. I have referred to English translations of the major sources where they are available and quoted sources in English. I occasionally provide quotations in the original language in my footnotes, in those places where I think that specialists might like to check my translation, but in general I have not done so. Although written so as to be accessible to a broad audience, the controversial account of the origin of Joan’s mission developed here will, I hope, encourage scholars to take a more skeptical attitude toward the traditional story of Joan’s appearance and consider seriously the most likely explanation of her appearance, which is that she was trained in order to facilitate the fulfillment of well-known prophecies. Many features of her life are likely to remain contested, since the available evidence is patchy and open to interpretation. But some contested issues can surely be decided. Serious archival research of a kind that was beyond my means could conclusively establish Christine’s whereabouts during the 1420s, or finally prove that Joan and Christine could never have met. If this work helps fill in, for an interested audience, the context of Joan’s appearance, and stimulates open-minded research into the origins of Joan’s mission, it will have achieved its purpose. NOTES 1. Marina Warner, Joan of Arc (London: Vintage, 1991); Andrew Lang, The Maid of France (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908); Vita Sackville-West, Saint

Green_9781793613165.indb 10

15-04-2021 13:10:29

Introduction

11

Joan of Arc: Born, January 6, 1412, Burned as a Heretic, May 20, 1431, Canonized as a Saint, May 16, 1920 (London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1936); Jules Michelet, Jeanne d’Arc (1412–1432) (Paris: Hachette, 1888); Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue (London: Constable and Company, 1924); Régine Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Clin, Joan of Arc. Her Story, trans. Jeremy duQuesnay Adams (London: Phoenix Press, 2000). 2. For a reading of the Ditié as history and bibliography of secondary literature see Jean-François Kosta-Théfaine, Prophétie et histoire dans le “Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc” de Christine de Pizan (Paris: ressouvenances, 2014). 3. Deborah Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000). 4. Christine de Pizan, The Book of Peace, ed. and trans. Karen Green, Constant J. Mews and Janice Pinder (University Park: Penn State, 2008); Karen Green, “Isabeau de Bavière and the Political Philosophy of Christine de Pizan,” Historical Reflections/Reflexions Historiques 32, no. 2 (2006); “Phronesis Feminized, Prudence from Christine de Pizan to Elizabeth I,” in Virtue, Liberty and Toleration: Political Ideas of European Women 1400-1800, ed. Jacqueline Broad and Karen Green (Dordrec: Springer, 2007); “On Translating Christine de Pizan as a Philosopher,” in Healing the Body Politic: The Political Thought of Christine de Pizan, ed. Karen Green and Constant J. Mews (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005); “Isolated Individual or Member of a Feminine Courtly Community? Christine de Pizan’s Milieu,” in Communities of Learning: Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe 1100-150, ed. Constant Mews and John Crossley (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011). 5. Larissa Juliet Taylor, “Joan of Arc, the church, and the papacy,” The Catholic Historical Review 98 (2012), 217–40, provides an overview of Joan’s exploits and trials very much in line with that developed here. 6. Christine de Pizan, Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc, edited and translated by Angus J. Kennedy and Kenneth Varty (Oxford: Medium Aevum Monographs, 1977). The original did not have a title, and questions have been raised about the appropriateness of the one which has become standard, Françoise Michaud-Fréjaville, “‘Fors nature’: Dieu, le roi Charles et la Pucelle, ou Faut-il changer notre titre du Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc,” Cahiers de recheres médiévales et humanistes 25 (2013), 545–58. As he argues, the work celebrates Charles as much as Joan and is an anthem or paean, but following tradition, and in order to avoid complex questions of translation, I have chosen to call the poem the Ditié. 7. Margaret Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921); Maurice David-Darnac, Le Dossier de Jehanne (Paris: Jean-Jacques Pauvert, 1968). 8. More recently in Marcel Gay and Roger Senzig, L’affaire Jeanne d’Arc (Paris: Florent Massot, 2007). 9. See Colette Beaune, Jeanne d’Arc vérités et légendes (Paris: Perrin, 2008), Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc, 233–5; Olivier Bouzy, Jeanne d’Arc, l’histoire à l’endroit (Tours: CLD, 2008), the latter provides a list of works which argue for some kind of conspiracy with regard to Joan at 19–20.

Green_9781793613165.indb 11

15-04-2021 13:10:30

12

Introduction

10. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, translated by H. M. Parshley (London: Vintage, 1997), 159–62. 11. Georges Minois, Charles VII. Un Roi Shakespearien (Paris: Perrin, 2005), 232–59. 12. Charity Cannon Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works (New York: Persea, 1984), 204–7; Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc, 197; Régine Pernoud, Christine de Pisan (Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1982), 193–220. 13. Siméon Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy (Paris: Champion, 1886).

Green_9781793613165.indb 12

15-04-2021 13:10:30

Chapter 1

Christine de Pizan

The year 1389, the ninth year of the reign of the young Charles VI (1368– 1422), began with festivities. In May, a splendid ceremony was staged in the town of Saint Denis, not far from Paris, complete with solemn masses, jousts, and balls. During the ceremony the king’s cousins, Louis II of Anjou (1377– 1417), and Anjou’s brother, Charles, were knighted. The four days of celebration culminated in debauchery and drunkenness. But what matter? The king was happy, and displayed his largesse, distributing presents and offering the kiss of peace to the most illustrious guests. Later, when he wrote his chronicle of these events, the Monk of Saint Denis was to hint with hindsight that the debauchery should not be overlooked, for disaster was soon to strike France.1 But in 1389 few foresaw that fortune’s wheel was turning in the direction of catastrophe. Richard II of England was amenable to the establishment of peace, and the previous king, Charles V (1338–1380), had left France well governed and prosperous. His son took the opportunity of the massed nobles at Saint Denys to remember his father’s famous military commander, the great Bertrand de Guesclin (1320–1380), who was now honored by a belated, solemn, funeral mass. The year continued with pageants and feasts celebrating the marriage of Charles VI’s brother, Louis of Orleans (1372–1407), to Valentina Visconti (1371–1408), an Italian cousin, and later, the coronation and grand entry into Paris of Charles’s new, young wife, Isabeau of Bavaria (1370–1435). In the midst of this year of festivities, a young Parisian woman was widowed. Her husband, Etienne de Castel, one of Charles VI’s secretaries, succumbed to the plague, while on official business in the town of Beauvais. Her Italian father, who had been a physician/astrologer to Charles V, had died five years earlier, and her brothers had returned to Italy, to take up the family’s estates. Hence it was that the young woman found herself at twenty-five alone, 13

Green_9781793613165.indb 13

15-04-2021 13:10:30

14

Chapter 1

without resource, and with three children and an aging mother to support. Her fate was not unusual for her time. Plague and war were rife, many women were widowed, and most fell back on their families, or quickly remarried. But Christine de Pizan had been deeply in love with her husband and took an unusual attitude to her bereavement. She determined never to remarry, and out of this determination was born one of the most admirable and compelling life-stories of a woman from the late Middle Ages.2 She had been given an adequate, basic education by her father, and she used it as the foundation for a program of self-education that resulted in an illustrious career as a poet and political writer. Thus, she became one of the first secular women to support herself through writing, and her image can be seen at the beginning of many of the beautiful manuscripts that she was to produce. Christine is now best known for her defense of women, in Book of the City of Ladies, but this was only one of a dozen major works she authored during the period from 1400 to 1417.3 Her last known work was a poem: a long celebration of the coronation of Charles VII and the achievements of Joan of Arc. It was written in July 1429, after a period of obscurity and relative inactivity. The poem was composed during the two weeks after the remarkable culmination of Joan’s series of military engagements, when Joan had led the dauphin to be crowned at Reims, and it is an important source for our understanding of Joan as the miraculous savior of France. In writing in poetic form Christine was returning to the origins of her literary career, for it was as a poet that she first established her reputation and gained confidence as a writer. While Christine had been schooled by her father, before her marriage to Etienne, she later represented this as consisting in mere crumbs from the table of learning. Yet it is clear from the beautiful manuscripts written in her hand that she was well-trained in writing in the contemporary court style, and we know from her later Latin erudition that she almost certainly had been given a grounding in Latin. However, it was not until after her husband’s death that Christine turned seriously to poetry, scholarship, and writing, first as a source of solace, and increasingly as a source of funds. It is from her writing that we know the story of her troubles, and in many of her works she used her own misfortunes as an allegory for the troubled state of France. In poems and prose she lamented the loss of her husband, her ill-treatment as a poor widow, and equally mourned the destitution of France, whose ruling classes, having abandoned wisdom and virtue, were threatening the destruction of the country. For, Christine lived at a time of deteriorating civil order.4 After a spectacular breakdown, in 1392, France’s king, Charles VI, was periodically insane, probably schizophrenic, and from the onset of his insanity the government of France staggered from one crisis to another.5 The king’s uncle, Philip of Burgundy (1342–1404), and the king’s younger brother, Louis of Orleans,

Green_9781793613165.indb 14

15-04-2021 13:10:30

Christine de Pizan

15

jostled for power, while rivalry and suspicion were fomented by the king’s erratic behavior. Unlike his elder brother, Louis was of perfectly sound mind, ambitious, and inclined to use his influence over his brother to steer French policy in the direction of his own interests. This caused consternation among his uncles and the suspicion that he planned to usurp his brother’s authority. Some years after Charles VI’s first breakdown, his wife, Isabeau of Bavaria, was given the authority to endorse edicts in her husband’s name during his bouts of incoherence. Her authority was, however, no more welcomed than was Louis’s; it was subject to veto by the princes of the blood and ultimately Isabeau was incapable of effectively keeping the rival barons in control. Christine’s City of Ladies, which argued for women’s political prudence and capacity to rule, implicitly defended Isabeau’s authority, though without success.6 Earlier, during the last years of the fourteenth century, Christine had compiled her first major political allegory as an implicit warning against the dangers of the rivalry brewing between the different branches of the royal family.7 This was The Letter of Othea to Hector (Epistre Othea), made up of 100 stories extracted from the history of the Trojan wars. The stories were told by an imaginary goddess, Othea, the personification of the virtue of Prudence, to the young hero, Hector, on his fifteenth birthday in order to teach him true chivalry and moral virtue.8 Othea synthesized ancient and Christian moral doctrine, in the most interesting and appealing manner possible, by mixing short poems, with a reading that recounted stories from the Troy legend and sayings from pagan philosophers with their allegorical, Christian significance. It was a sophisticated work of political advice that was widely copied and in later years Christine would have it illuminated with 100 beautiful illustrations, in at least two sumptuous collections of her collected works, the most elaborate of which was confected for Isabeau in 1414, and is now a treasure of the British Library, “the Queen’s manuscript,” Harley 4431.9 The Othea pointed to the destruction of Troy as an implicit warning to the French princes that their selfish and shortsighted jostling for power would ultimately lead to disaster. The analogy drawn was all the more pertinent because, like so many medieval royal families, the French kings traced their ancestry back to the Trojan War. According to the French chronicles, Penthesilia, the Amazon princess, had saved the life of the distant ancestor of the French kings, Francio, Hector’s son, thus saving the Trojan lineage. Later writers would represent Joan’s restoration of the French crown as a recreation of this mythic event. The Othea was not the last of Christine’s attempts to teach the fractious nobles political virtue.10 Two allegorical poems, Long Path of Learning (Le Chemin de longue étude) and Book of the Mutability of Fortune (Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune); a history of Charles V, The Deeds and Morals of the Good King Charles V (Le Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy

Green_9781793613165.indb 15

15-04-2021 13:10:31

16

Chapter 1

Charles V); an allegorical autobiography, Christine’s Vision (L’Advision Cristine); and two political treatises, Book of the Body Politic (Le Livre du corps de policie) and Book of Peace (Le Livre de paix); each in their own way urged the aristocracy to adopt the classical virtues, as the key to solving France’s problems and restoring peace.11 Autograph manuscripts of many of these works still exist, and many include an image of Christine, as she chose to be represented, wearing a simple blue dress and writing in her study. Two features of these works are worth noting, one is the fact that Christine often celebrates the deeds of women who dressed as men, or who are transformed into men, in order to accomplish their ends. The other is that she was well versed in the prophetic traditions in which her father was expert, and she represents herself as possessing prophetic powers. In the Mutability of Fortune, she explains how, with the death of her husband, she was transformed from a woman into a man, in order to take control of her life. In the Long Path of Learning Christine’s guide, the Cumean sibyl, leads her up into the celestial firmament, where she sees for herself the harmony of the planets, and has their properties, powers, and influences explained to her (figure 1.1).12 As she travels through the air over the known world, she passes the mountains by the Caspian Sea, where Gog and Magog are waiting to burst forth when the Antichrist appears.13 She then descends with her guide to the sphere of air, where she sees personified the influences and destinies of humans, which are governed by the planets and other beings in the superior spheres.14 There follows a long discourse in which Christine recounts the events to come and asserts her prophetic knowledge.15 In this work she boldly claims visionary abilities, warning of famines, and rebellions, tempests and floods. She asserts that she understands the reasons for the appearance of a comet in 1401. She then claims that, as well as seeing further comets to come, she sees eclipses of the sun and moon, one of which presages much evil that will not soon end. The prophecies of the ten sibyls and of Merlin are explained to her, and she sees behind all these events the hand of fickle fortune. Christine’s Vision continues in this prophetic vein. It compares the tribulations of her own life, and those of the French realm, riven by the madness of its king, with the events recounted in the Book of Daniel, in order to promise that, through God’s grace and humanity’s return to virtue, both the kingdom and the world will be saved. The dream of “Nabugodonozor” anticipates a time when the infirmity infecting the world will end, the tree of which he dreamed will be cut down, and the prophecy of the Virgin, “Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles” [The powerful will be cast down and the humble will rejoice], will be fulfilled.16 Other works are more straight forward attempts to teach political virtue. Her history of Charles V is both a celebration of the life of a king, who had been her father’s patron, and a manual of advice for his son and other princes

Green_9781793613165.indb 16

15-04-2021 13:10:31

Christine de Pizan

17

Figure 1.1  The Sibyl Shows Christine the Firmament, Le Chemin de longue estude. Source: BnF, fr. 836, f. 12r, © BnF.

on governing wisely and well. The Book of Peace written for Charles V’s grandson, Louis of Guyenne (1397–1415), both celebrated his role in forging a short-lived peace between the feuding nobles and described the virtues he should aspire to, in order to govern well.17 In order to live independently Christine developed the practice of presenting copies of her works to members of various branches of the royal family on the first day of each new year. It was by means of the more or less generous largesse that she received in return that she was able to feed her family, provide a dowry for her niece, and ultimately live in some comfort. At the beginning of her history of Charles V she describes how, after having offered a copy of the Mutability of Fortune to Philip of Burgundy, she was invited by him to an audience at the Louvre and commissioned to write an account of

Green_9781793613165.indb 17

15-04-2021 13:10:33

18

Chapter 1

his brother’s campaigns, which had been successful in ridding France of the scourge of the English invaders, and had brought peace and prosperity to the realm. As a youth, Charles had been faced with the capture, by the English, of his father King John, resulting in the need to raise a huge ransom to secure his release. With the aid of his wily commander, Bertrand du Guesclin, he had overseen the harassment and defeat of the English and their expulsion from all but their traditional possessions in France. Charles V thus halted the reverses the French had suffered during earlier episodes in the Hundred Years’ War, and Christine offered his actions as a blueprint to inspire his remaining relations to act in the defense of France. As the divisions between the factions in the French nobility widened, she became more and more closely involved in the production of explicitly political texts, which had the dual function of giving advice to younger princes about the practice of good government, and encouraging them to unite under the leadership of their queen, Isabeau, and her eldest son, the dauphin of France, Louis of Guyenne. In 1404 Charles VI’s uncle, Philip of Burgundy, died, and the tensions which had previously simmered between him and Louis of Orleans were inherited by his less temperate son, John the Fearless (1371–1419). Philip, as brother to the deceased king, had legitimately exercised significant power in the Royal Council, but Louis was not happy to accord the same level of influence to John, who was merely a cousin. The conflict soon came to a head, when, in 1405, there was an attempt to wrest the royal children from John’s control by removing them from Paris, which John prevented by returning them to Paris, without the queen’s consent. Civil war was narrowly averted, while Christine was close to those who managed to hammer out a peace. At the behest of some unnamed noble, she wrote a letter to Isabeau, in which she urged her to forgive the insult to her authority implicit in John’s actions and to use her influence to mollify Louis. Indeed, not long after, a peace was agreed to, though the respite was temporary.18 By 1407, Louis of Orleans, having effectively sidelined his cousin, John the Fearless, in desperation, arranged for his murder to be carried out by henchmen, as Louis left the palace of his sister-in-law Isabeau. John ultimately represented this action as a legitimate act of tyrannicide, while the relations of Louis of Orleans insisted that he should be brought to justice. After many years of bitter conflict, during which the Orleanist claims were pursued by the duke of Armagnac, and the people divided into Burgundian and Armagnac factions, John the Fearless was himself murdered in revenge, in 1419 on a bridge at Montereau, during negotiations between him and the dauphin Charles, the future Charles VII (1403–1461), that were intended to reestablish peace. This act resulted in the disinheritance of Charles, and the Treaty of Troyes, which made Henry V of England (1386–1422) the heir of Charles VI in his place.

Green_9781793613165.indb 18

15-04-2021 13:10:33

Christine de Pizan

19

During the years leading up to the murder of John the Fearless, the rivalry and civil war between the Burgundians and Armagnacs increasingly led to the destruction of the French countryside and economy. For ten years, while the situation progressively deteriorated, Christine was active writing works exhorting those who had the means to maintain peace, to govern with a firm and just hand. For a short period during 1412 to 1415 it seemed as though Louis of Guyenne, Charles VI’s eldest son, might have the required capacity to return France to civil order, and Christine’s Book of Peace addressed him, encouraging him to take control and emulate his politically astute grandfather in the service of political order. But Louis of Guyenne died in 1415, and France descended further into chaos. The English king Henry V, taking advantage of the French Civil War, invaded a short time before this dauphin’s death, and inflicted a devastating defeat on the French at Agincourt, taking many French nobles, including Charles of Orleans (1394–1465), hostage.19 But even this common enemy brought the French no closer together. In 1416 Isabeau was accused of adultery by Bernard of Armagnac (1360–1418) and was exiled from Paris. She consequently sought the aid of the John the Fearless and allied herself with the Burgundians. Then, in 1418, Paris was wrested from Armagnac control by the Burgundians and Christine apparently fled. After this we know little of her life apart from her claim, at the beginning of the Ditié, that she had spent eleven years weeping in an abbey. During the eleven years that Christine spent in this unnamed abbey, Henry V extended his control over northern France. In the Treaty of Troyes, published on May 21, 1420, Isabeau agreed to disinherit her son, Charles, who had become dauphin in 1417 at the death of his only surviving brother, John of Touraine.20 With the support of the new duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, Charles VI and his wife arranged the marriage of their daughter Catherine (1401–1437) to Henry V, making him heir to the French crown. No doubt France would have been absorbed into the English realm, had Henry V not died in 1422, the same year as Charles VI, leaving two contenders to the French crown: Henry VI, the infant son of Catherine, and Henry V and the disinherited dauphin, Charles, who had retreated to Bourges and other towns, some in the control of the Bourbons and others belonging to his Angevin inlaws. By 1428, the English were besieging Orleans on the river Loire, occupying a strategic crossing into southern France, and the dauphin’s position was looking increasingly tenuous. It was at this moment of crisis that Joan of Arc appeared. At the high point of her military success, when the dauphin Charles had been crowned at Reims, thus achieving a momentous symbolic victory in his quest to be legitimized as king of France, Christine took up her pen to celebrate Joan’s exploits.

Green_9781793613165.indb 19

15-04-2021 13:10:33

20

Chapter 1

NOTES 1. M. L. Bellaguet, ed., Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, 3 vols. (Paris: Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1994), 1:599. 2. For a more detailed biography see Françoise du Castel, Damoiselle Christine de Pizan, Veuve de M. Etienne de Castel, 1364–1431 (Paris: A. and J. Picard, 1972); Françoise du Castel, Ma Grand-mère Christine de Pizan (Paris: 1936); Enid McLeod, The Order of the Rose: The Life and Ideas of Christine de Pizan (Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1976); Marie-Josèphe Pinet, Christine de Pisan (Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1974); Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works. 3. Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, translated by Earl Jeffrey Richards (London: Picador, 1983); Christine de Pizan, La Città delle dame, edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards, translated by Patrizia Caraffi (Milano & Trento: Luni Editrice, 1997). 4. Tracy Adams, Christine De Pizan and the Fight for France (University Park, PA.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014). 5. For the argument that Charles VI’s insanity was schizophrenia and for a detailed account of his reign see R. C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI (New York: AMS Press, 1986). 6. Tracy Adams, The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); Karen Green, “Isabeau De Bavière and the Political Philosophy of Christine de Pizan.” 7. Sandra Hindman, Christine de Pizan’s “Épistre Othea”: Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986). 8. Christine de Pizan, Epistre Othea, edited by Gabriella Parussa (Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1999); Othea’s Letter to Hector, trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Earl Jeffrey Richards (Toronto, Ontario: Iter Press, 2017). 9. For an extended discussion of the political import of the work see Hindman, Christine de Pizan’s “Épistre Othea.” 10. For the Queens manuscript, http://www​.pizan​.lib​.ed​.ac​.uk/. For a complete description of contemporary manuscripts her works, Gilbert Ouy, Christine Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012). 11. Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Body Politic, translated by Kate Forhan, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); Le Livre du corps de policie, ed. Angus J. Kennedy (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1998); Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, edited by Susanne Solente, 4 vols. (Paris: Éditions A & J Picard, 1959); Le Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V, edited by Suzanne Solente, 2 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1936-40; reprint, Geneva: Slatkine, 1975), modern French translation, Le Livre des faits et bonnes moeurs du roi Charles V le Sage, trans. Eric Hicks and Thérèse Moreau (Paris: Stock, 1997); Le Chemin de Longue Étude, ed. Andrea Tarnowski (Paris: Livre de Poche, 2000); The Book of Peace. 12. Chemin de longue étude, 1785–852. 13. Ibid., 1467–70. 14. Ibid., 2060–140.

Green_9781793613165.indb 20

15-04-2021 13:10:34

Christine de Pizan

21

15. Ibid., 2142–203. 16. Advision, 33. 17. The Book of Peace, III:2, 127, 260 and see also III:6, 134, 266. 18. The letter is reprinted in Christine de Pizan, The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life with An Epistle to the Queen of France and Lament on the Evils of the Civil War, translated by Josette Wiseman (London and New York: Garland Library of Medieval Literature, 1984), 71–83. 19. A recent very readable account of these events is provided in, Helen Castor, Joan of Arc, a History (London: Faber and Faber, 2014). 20. Philippe Contamine, Charles VII. Une vie, une politique (Paris: Perrin, 2017), 69.

Green_9781793613165.indb 21

15-04-2021 13:10:34

Green_9781793613165.indb 22

15-04-2021 13:10:34

Chapter 2

Christine’s “Ditié”

I, Christine, eleven years have wept In a walled abbey where I have stayed Since Charles (how strange!) Son of a king, I grieve to say, Fled Paris in haste. Enclosed there by treason. Now at last I begin to laugh. Laugh heartily with joy. Now we see that wintry time When miserable in dreary cage I sat, depart. Now my language turns from tears to song. Now good times come again. Well I endured my part. In the year 1429 The sun again began to shine. It brought new good times. Which no-one has seen For such a long time. When many lived in mourning And I indeed was one. But now no more of my mourning. For I see my desire is come.

23

Green_9781793613165.indb 23

15-04-2021 13:10:34

24

Chapter 2

So it is well my verse has turned, From great lament to joyous news Since the time that I’ve sojourned There where I am. That beautiful season That we call spring has thrust, Oh Lord be thanked, how deep desired When everything is renewed And from the desert, green life bursts.1

These are the first verses of Christine’s Ditié celebrating Charles VII’s coronation and Joan’s feats. Dated the last day of July 1429, the poem was completed just two weeks after the ceremony at Reims. There, beneath the gothic arches of the Cathedral of Our Lady, the dauphin Charles, disinherited by his father and mother, nine years earlier—who had nevertheless, claimed the disputed kingdom at his father’s death in 1422—was finally crowned and anointed King of France. At Agincourt the French had suffered a crippling defeat and it had seemed that God favored the English. A generation of France’s knights died and those who survived were dug out from among the heaped French corpses and taken prisoner. Among the prisoners was Louis of Orleans’s heir, the poet Charles of Orleans, who had by this time wiled away fourteen of the twenty-five years he was to spend in English custody, writing elegant laments. Again, at Verneuil, in 1424, the French armies had been routed by the English. But with the lifting of the siege of Orleans, the French cause had finally begun to prosper, and many French were reassured that God and the planetary influences were now finally aligned in their favor. On July 17, 1429, the soaring nave of the cathedral was filled with Charles VII’s supporters. His knights were flushed with success after the lightning campaign that had begun at Orleans in May of that year and reached Reims by mid-July. Orleans, besieged by the English, had been liberated through the agency of Joan. She was Jehanne la Pucelle, a virgin from Lorraine, sent by God to crown Charles, and to demonstrate the justice of the French cause. Invigorated by their success at Orleans, Charles’s supporters rallied. Marching north from the Loire, they recaptured all the major towns on their path. It had taken seven years, from the death of his father in 1422, for Charles VII to be sanctified and legitimately crowned king of France, at Reims, as custom required. Surrounding the newly crowned king were John duke of Alençon; the Laval brothers; Guy and André (known as lord of Lohéac); Charles of Bourbon (count of Clermont), Louis of Vendôme, and Gilles of Rais. When the king was consecrated the whole church rang out with the cry “Noel.” Again, when the crown was placed on his head the crowd cried “Noel.”2 Trumpets sounded

Green_9781793613165.indb 24

15-04-2021 13:10:34

Christine’s “Ditié”

25

so that it seemed the walls would crumble. The congregation sang out, “See the coming of the noble Flying Stag, See the coming of the second Charlemagne.”3 Throughout the ceremony Joan stood by the king holding her standard on which was painted the image of God holding the world on a field of fleurs-delis, with two angels flanking this image and the words “Jesus Maria” written alongside. We know about these details of the coronation from a letter discovered during the seventeenth century in the archives of the Cistercian abbey, Bénissons Dieu, in Forez. This letter was written from Reims on July 18, just one day after the coronation. It was addressed to Marie of Anjou (1404–1463), Charles VII’s wife, and her mother Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily, who had not accompanied the dauphin to the coronation, but waited for news in the safety of lands still controlled by Charles’s supporters, probably at Bourges.4 It is not known how this letter came into the possession of the abbey, which is about 200 kilometers southeast of Bourges, not far from the castle of Châteaumorand. It describes how, during the nine-hour ceremony, Joan stood near the king with her standard in her hand. It explains that on the next day the king will depart for Paris and relays the news that the duke of Burgundy has sent an emissary to Reims and that a treaty between Charles and Burgundy is expected. It pays particular attention to the role played in the coronation by a group of knights whose presence and activities were clearly of interest to the intended recipients of the letter.5 These victorious knights, who played an important part in the ceremony at which Joan presided, were more closely connected by family ties (both to each other, and to the imprisoned poet Charles of Orleans) than is immediately obvious from their names. In various ways they were also connected to Christine de Pizan. Some had been acquainted with her when she was famous in Paris, and no doubt knew of her still. Others possessed manuscripts of her works, which they had inherited from their parents. At the beginning of the century, Louis of Orleans and his wife, Valentina Visconti, had been among Christine’s earliest patrons.6 The Tale of the Rose (Dit de la rose), which is found in an early collection of her works, is a dream vision in which Christine, asleep one night when staying at the duke’s palace, was urged to establish an “order of the rose” to defend women. In it she criticizes men and also women who defame other women, calling on women not to undermine each other.7 It was dated Valentine’s Day, 1402, Valentina’s birthday, and was written at a low point of Valentina’s career, during which she had been accused of sorcery and blamed for Charles VI’s madness. James Laidlaw suggested that this early collection can be identified as BnF fr. 12779, but there are no marks which prove that it was in Charles of Orleans library, so more recent scholars have avoided the identification.8 Christine’s connection to the Orleans’ family is also attested by an early autograph manuscript of the

Green_9781793613165.indb 25

15-04-2021 13:10:35

26

Chapter 2

Figure 2.1  Christine Presents Epistre Othea to Louis of Orleans. Source: BnF fr. 848, f. 1r, © BnF.

Letter of Othea, BnF fr. 848, confected around 1400, which was addressed to the duke (figure 2.1). It is plausible that the Othea was destined to educate his sons, who were then still children. This manuscript later came into the possession of Agnes of Burgundy, wife of Charles of Clermont, and while it likewise cannot be identified with any of those cataloged in Charles of Orleans’ library, he owned a copy of this work.9 In fact, Charles of Orleans had inherited a significant collection of works by Christine that develop her moral and ethical

Green_9781793613165.indb 26

15-04-2021 13:10:36

Christine’s “Ditié”

27

principles. These included copies of her Book of the Body Politic, Long Path of Learning, Letters on the Romance of the Rose, and Othea.10 Another of her works found in his library, The Book of Prudence (Livre de Prudence), which also exists under the title The Description and Definition of Men’s Prowess (La descripcion et diffinicion de la prodhommie de l’homme), represents itself as originating in Louis of Orleans’s own words and as transmitting to others his definition of noble prudence, the art of ruling justly, and speaking well.11 Charles of Orleans’ daughter, Jeanne, was one of the women whose marriage reveals the ties between the knights surrounding Joan and Christine, for she was John of Alençon’s wife. Not long returned from the ordeal of being made an English prisoner at Verneuil, twenty-two-year-old John of Alençon was one of Joan’s close companions during the first five months of her campaign. His wife was the only daughter of Charles of Orleans and Isabelle of France (1389–1409)—Charles VII’s older sister, who had, for a short time prior to her second marriage, been Richard II of England’s queen. While Alençon was in captivity, his wife Jeanne struggled to find money for the steep ransom demanded by his captors. Before the military campaign that led to Reims, Joan had visited her in the monastery of Saint-Florent, near Saumur, where she was staying with her mother-in-law, and had promised to return her husband to her safely.12 In making this visit to Charles of Orleans’ daughter, Joan was paying homage to an important figure in the ongoing political and military conflict, concerning whom, she claimed, her voices had provided her with many revelations. Christine had not only been patronized by Louis of Orleans and his wife, Valentina, she also had her own reasons for remembering the difficult period during which Henry IV (1367–1413) had wrested the crown of England from Richard II (1367–1400). Christine had become acquainted with John Montague, Earl of Salisbury, during his visit to France in 1398 in order to receive part of Isabelle’s dowry. He had appreciated her poetic skill and had persuaded her to send both some of her works and her son, Jean Castel (c. 1385–1425), to England with him to be a companion to his slightly younger boy.13 Within little more than a year, Richard II had been deposed and Salisbury killed, in an unsuccessful uprising in Richard’s defense. Henry IV took possession of both Christine’s works and her son, whom she was not able to retrieve until around 1402, when she organized that he be returned to France, on the pretext of needing him to accompany her to England, where she had been invited to join Henry’s court. This history had confirmed her belief in the untrustworthiness of the English, traditional enemies of France, whose downfall she celebrates in the Ditié. Agincourt had left Jeanne of Orleans without her father’s presence. It had similarly deprived John of Alençon’s cousin, the twenty-seven-yearold Charles count of Clermont, of the presence of his father, John duke of

Green_9781793613165.indb 27

15-04-2021 13:10:36

28

Chapter 2

Bourbon. Like Charles of Orleans, John had been captured and had spent the past fourteen years in English custody. During this captivity, his wife, Mary of Berry, governed his estates. Her father, the duke of Berry, had been before his death, in 1416, one of Christine’s most prominent and generous patrons, and the last work written by Christine, in 1417, before her exile from Paris, was the Epistle of the Prison of Human Life (Epistre de la prison de vie humaine) dedicated to Mary of Berry. In this dedication, Christine thanked Mary for the great charity that she had previously extended to her in her widowhood.14 Christine proffered this Epistle, which she says was begun for someone else (perhaps Isabeau of Bavaria, who had just lost two sons in quick succession), to Mary of Berry and to all ladies, as an aid in times of trouble. Part of her argument in this work is that in the end the wicked will get what they deserve. In it she anticipated the possibility of a woman like Joan appearing to restore peace, writing of the biblical prophetesses Deborah and Judith in the Bible: “God’s acts of vengeance come strangely and in various ways upon the wicked when they are not careful; and similarly, although it is an extraordinary thing for a woman to kill because of her social condition and because it is against her nature to kill, nevertheless, to punish many evil men more dishonourably, God willed that some should be slain by women.”15 Three years earlier in her Book of Peace Christine had also imagined the women of a country subjected to tyranny, praying to the soul of Judith to deliver them from this scourge.16 Judith, who had killed Holofernes and saved the Israelites from subjection, was a virgin, who acted heroically in order to save her people. In subsequent works, Joan would constantly be described as analogous to Judith. She had been instrumental in delivering the prophesized divine justice to the people of Israel, as Christine had promised in her book, Christine’s Vision, would also be delivered to the people of France, if only they mended their ways and turned to God. So, Christine had already conceived of the emergence of a heroine like Joan, well before her appearance. A little further on in Book of Peace Christine again mentions Judith, in a list of examples of cruel princes whom God had punished.17 In her City of Ladies, Christine had told the story of many holy women, Christian saints, martyrs, ancient queens, and biblical heroines, including Judith, in order to show that women were capable of great deeds. She had used the examples of the sibyls and the Sabine women, as well as many saints, including Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, to demonstrate the spiritual benefit conferred on men by women.18 Moreover, she had written her Book of Three Virtues in order to encourage women to follow such examples and to seek to deserve renown and honor in the future.19 Many of the noblewomen whose actions Christine had praised, in order to show that women were capable of exercising all the virtues of men, had gone

Green_9781793613165.indb 28

15-04-2021 13:10:37

Christine’s “Ditié”

29

into battle or adopted male dress in order to achieve their goals. She spent four chapters of the City of Ladies recounting the history of the Amazons, whom she represented in a positive light as heroic self-governing women. She told the story of the wife of Barnabo, who had passed herself off for many years as a man, and that of Saint Martine, who lived as a monk. She related the stories of queens and other women who had fought and won battles, such as Camille, Berenice of Cappadocia, and Artemisia, who showed great valor in deeds of knighthood.20 Since they were beautifully illuminated manuscripts, inherited by their mother from their grandfather’s library, Christine’s works must have been known to Mary of Berry’s sons, Charles of Clermont, and Louis of Montpensier, long before they became acquainted with Joan, the contemporary embodiment of Judith, the savior of her people. One of the richly illuminated collections of Christine’s works, in which the Othea is illustrated with 100 illuminations, had been selected by Mary from her father’s estate in 1416, along with 39 other precious volumes.21 It would have been an obvious text of moral instruction for Mary’s teenage sons, and we can assume that, at this period when libraries were small and suitable works were read aloud at courtly gatherings and meals, they would have been quite familiar with it. Independently, Charles of Bourbon’s wife, Agnes of Burgundy, whom he married in 1425, possessed by the time of her death, at least two of Christine’s works, the early version of the Othea, that had been dedicated to Louis of Orleans, and an autograph copy of the City of Ladies.22 Mary of Berry’s younger son, Louis of Montpensier, bore the same name as her deceased brother, whose wife had been a special friend of Christine’s. She was Anne of Bourbon-La Marche, the sister of another of the knights who surrounded Joan on the memorable occasion of the coronation, Louis of Vendôme. Among Christine’s ballads, “Autres Ballade XX,” written to my lady of Montpensier, undoubtedly celebrates the friendship with Anne.23 The very affectionate tone of this ballade which celebrates “good day, good year, good month, good news” resonates with the affection that is marked in the City of Ladies, where Christine describes Anne as someone she loves. There she includes her among the ladies who are welcomed into the allegorical city that she had built on the field of letters to demonstrate the virtue and capacity of women (figure 2.2).24 This book, full of stories of Amazons, princesses, and female saints, demonstrated how, in the past and more recently, virtuous women had intervened in political affairs. When Joan appeared at Chinon in 1429, bringing prophecies of hope for the French people, her contemporaries represented her as the reembodiment of the heroic women whose histories Christine had repeatedly evoked. These stories were familiar from the Bible and classical sources. But

Green_9781793613165.indb 29

15-04-2021 13:10:37

30

Chapter 2

Figure 2.2  Christine Leads Virtuous Women into the City of Ladies, Cité des dames. Source: BnF, fr. 1178, f. 64v, © BnF.

they had been brought together in a new and potent way in an exceptional, recent work written by a woman to prove women’s virtue and capacity. Joan’s companions John of Alençon and Charles of Clermont were young men in their twenties. Louis of Vendôme, by contrast, had served in the Orleans court at the beginning of the century. He was born in 1376, making him just ten years younger than Christine. In all probability he knew Christine quite well during the years when she was both his sister’s friend and the recipient of Valentina Visconti’s patronage.25 He also fought at Agincourt and was taken prisoner, returning from captivity in 1424, five years prior to the coronation. He was Guy and André of Laval’s brother-in-law, having married their sister, Jeanne, on August 24, 1424, in the year of his return from England.26 Through his wife’s family, Louis of Vendôme was also related to Gilles de Rais, who was a distant cousin of Guy and André. At twenty-five Gilles was wealthy

Green_9781793613165.indb 30

15-04-2021 13:10:38

Christine’s “Ditié”

31

and dashing. Eleven years later, in 1440, he would be burned at the stake for sorcery and the murder and sexual molestation of children, being remembered, some have argued unfairly, as the origin of the Bluebeard legend. The brothers Guy and André of Laval were the grandchildren of another woman who had been favorably mentioned by Christine in the City of Ladies. She was “Jeanne de Laval, daughter of one of the great barons of Brittany,” who had been married to Bertrand du Guesclin, the valiant constable of France, and had loved him with such devotion that she mourned his death for the rest of her life.27 Jeanne was the daughter of Jean of Laval, lord of Châtillon, and Isabelle of Tinténiac and was du Guesclin’s second wife. They were married in 1374 but had no living children. Jeanne’s second marriage, which took place on May 28, 1384, four years after the death of du Guesclin, was to Guy XII of Laval.28 Her daughter Anne, her sole heir, married Jean de Montfort in 1405. From 1412, he took the name of Guy XIII of Laval, in order to secure the transmission of the lineage. They were the parents of Guy, André, and Jeanne, already mentioned, and they had two other children, Louis and Catherine. This overview of the family relations of the group of knights who surrounded Joan at Charles VII’s coronation demonstrates that they were a close-knit group with significant connections to Christine de Pizan. Louis of Vendôme, in particular, must have known her well. She had praised his older brother, Jacques de La Marche, in her history of Charles V, calling him a young knight full of bravura, and representing him as one of the shoots and green leaves of the tree of the house of France.29 Elsewhere, in The Book of the City of Ladies she had extolled the prudence of their mother, Catherine of Vendôme, and as already mentioned, described his sister Anne as someone who was her special friend.30 Though circumstantial, these family connections already show that there is much more than just a poem to connect Christine and Joan. Perhaps it is just a coincidence that the knights who are mentioned in the letter to Marie of Anjou and Yolande are a group with close connections with Christine. But even if it is a mere coincidence, it is an interesting one, which has not previously been noticed, and it serves to locate Joan’s appearance within a distinctive context. Not long before her appearance a work extolling women’s capacity for heroic action had been widely distributed within the families of the knights who were happy to stand by her side. It and other works by Christine were also well attested in the Burgundian library, as will be discussed in the next chapter. Most scholars believe that Christine penned her poem to Joan while confined in the Dominican Abbey of Saint Louis at Poissy, six leagues (about thirty-three-and-a-half kilometers) from Paris. Hearing in her misery of Joan’s triumph, she wrote the poem celebrating Joan’s victory from her cloister.31 That Christine penned the Ditié, it is claimed, is all that there is to connect Christine and Joan. It is asserted that it is simply a coincidence

Green_9781793613165.indb 31

15-04-2021 13:10:38

32

Chapter 2

that Joan, who behaved like a heroine from one of Christine’s books, turned up just when she did, twenty-five years after Christine began her campaign to defend women and demonstrate their capacity to intervene in political affairs. But the coincidence is so striking that it begs for deeper investigation. In a subsequent chapter, I shall argue that it is unlikely that Christine was at Poissy, but I conclude this chapter with an account of her connections with it, for she tells us about it in a poem, which describes a visit there with some of her friends, and although she does not name them, there is a high likelihood that among these companions were at least some of Anne of Bourbon-La Marche, Mary of Berry, and Louis of Vendôme. The Dominican Abbey at Poissy was well known to Christine. In 1399, thirty years before she penned her poem celebrating Joan’s achievements, her twelve-year-old daughter Marie had taken the veil and accompanied her namesake, the six-year-old daughter of Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria, into this convent. Marie of France was born in 1392, the year during which her father had the first of the terrible attacks of insanity that were to recur throughout his reign. The little girls who entered the convent were given generous dowries in the name of the insane king. Their freedom was sacrificed to the need for prayers to affect a cure that never came.32 Soon after her daughter entered the convent Christine wrote a poem, in which she tells of a spring ride with friends, through blossoming fields, to the convent where the little girls were enclosed.33 There they were received by Marie of Bourbon, prioress of the abbey, aunt of Charles VI, and Louis of Orleans, one of the many sisters of their mother, Jeanne of Bourbon. On their return from Poissy, Christine’s riding companions are drawn into a debate about the trials of love. One of the young women is noticed riding sadly at the rear of the group and is asked to explain the reason for her tears. She relates how she has fallen in love with a handsome knight, who went to Hungary to fight the Turks with a group of French knights, who had responded to a request for help from Sigismund, the king of Hungary. The lady’s handsome knight was captured at the disastrous battle of Nicopolis, and as his family was unable to raise the money for his ransom, he was still being held prisoner. It has been suggested that the lady’s story is a romantic fiction, for while it is based on a genuine expedition, most of the knights spared by the Turkish sultan Bajazeth, and held for ransom after the defeat of Nicopolis, were released quite quickly.34 There was, however, at least one, Humbert, bastard of Savoy, lord of Estavayer, a half brother of Amadeus VIII of Savoy, who spent seven years in Turkish captivity, waiting to be ransomed.35 Quite possibly, then, he is the object of our lady’s love. He was one of the grandchildren of Bonne of Bourbon, another of the sisters of Marie, the prioress of Poissy, so his fate would have been a natural subject for a poem focusing on this priory and dedicated to Saint Louis, the most illustrious ancestor of the Bourbon

Green_9781793613165.indb 32

15-04-2021 13:10:38

Christine’s “Ditié”

33

family. Earlier in the poem one of the nuns, Humbert’s cousin, a niece of Marie de Bourbon and “daughter of the count of Harcourt,” is also mentioned, reinforcing the impression that the poem is written for an audience connected with the Bourbons.36 This nun is the daughter of Catherine of Bourbon, another of the prioress’s sisters, who had married Jean VI, the count of Harcourt. Their daughter, who had entered the convent, was also called Catherine. That Christine tells the story which probably recounts the fate of Humbert of Savoy in her tale of Poissy further cements her association with the branch of the Bourbon family to which Louis of Vendôme belonged, for Humbert of Savoy was a friend and companion of Louis’s brother, Jacques de La Marche, who had also participated in the disaster of Nicopolis. Jacques, like Humbert, fought and was captured, but was more quickly ransomed, and much later, in the years just prior to Joan’s appearance, he would be reunited with his former companion in arms at Estavayer. His renewed contact with his old friend came during the late 1420s at a time in his life when Jacques came under the sway of a Franciscan religious reformer, Colette of Corbie, whom Siméon Luce has surmised may have had an influence on Joan. In Christine’s poem the lady’s sad tale is followed by a story told by a knight, who, having listened to the lady’s plight, attempts to persuade her that her fate is not so bad. He tells how he fell in love with a beauty, who had first encouraged him, and then suddenly and inexplicably rejected him. The return journey from Poissy comes to an end, the companions repair to eat with Christine, and she asks the recipient of her poem, who is fighting in a distant foreign land, to judge which lover’s situation is worse. We do not know who this recipient is, but it has been suggested that it was either Jean II le Meingre, called Boucicault, or Jean of Châteaumorand, both of whom will be drawn to our attention later in our exploration of Joan’s history.37 In the last chapter of this book (chapter 12) I will examine the small fragment of evidence which resulted in the surmise that in 1418 Christine followed her daughter into the convent that she had described so delightfully in this poem. As we will see, this evidence concerning Christine’s whereabouts is not convincing, and it is most likely that the abbey in which Christine had taken refuge was elsewhere in France. Nevertheless, even if Christine was at Poissy, and so, unlikely to have had any direct influence on Joan, the knights who surrounded Joan would have been influenced by Christine, at the very least, via their knowledge of her works.

NOTES 1. Translation, adapted by me, from Christine de Pizan, Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc. A full English translation can also be found in Craig Taylor (ed.) Joan of Arc,

Green_9781793613165.indb 33

15-04-2021 13:10:39

34

Chapter 2

La Pucelle (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006), 98–108. Another adaptation is found at http://www​.maidofheaven​.com​/joanofarc​_song​_pisan​_1​.asp. 2. Jules Quicherat, Procès de condemnation et de rehábilitation de Jeanne d’Arc, 5 vols. (Paris: SHF, 1841-49), 5:129; J. Quicherat (ed.), Relation inédite sur Jeanne d’Arc. Extraite du Livre noir de l’hotel-de-ville de la Rochelle (Orleans: H. Herluison, 1879), 37. 3. Taylor (ed.) Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 96–8; Pierre Champion, “Notes sur Jenne d’Arc,” Le Moyen âge, 2nd series, 13 (1909), 370–7. 4. Contamine, Charles VII, 171. 5. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:127–31. 6. James Laidlaw, “Christine De Pizan: A Publisher’s Progress,” Modern Language Review 82, no. 1 (1987), 48–9. 7. Christine de Pizan, “Dit de la Rose” in Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, ed. Maurice Roy, 3 vols. (Paris: Librarie de Firmin Didot et Cie, 1886; repr., Johnson Reprints,1965), 29–48 (43–4). 8. Laidlaw, “A Publisher’s Progress,” 42, 48; Ouy, Reno and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 218. 9. Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 349–50. 10. Pierre Champion, La Librarie de Charles d’Orleans (Paris: Champion, 1910), xlviii; Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, identify BnF, fr. 1197 with theircopy of The Book of the Body Politic (643) and BnF, fr. 1643 with his copy of The Long Path of Learning (409). 11. Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 625–9, surmise that the copy Vatican, Bav. Reg​.la​t. 1238 had belonged to Jean II le Meingre. 12. Pierre Champion, Vie de Charles d’Orleans (1394–1465) (Paris: Champion, 1969), 188–9. 13. James Laidlaw, “Christine de Pisan, the Earl of Salisbury, and Henry IV,” French Studies 36, no. 2 (1982). 14. Pizan, The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life, 2–3. 15. Ibid., 15. 16. Pizan, The Book of Peace, “Je dis qu’encores ne seroit souffisent pugnicion, ains devroient meismement les femmes qui autrement nuire ne lui pourroient prier devotement à celle benoite ame de la bonne dame judith que elle priast à dieu qui voulsist delivrer son peuple de ce maudit olopherne” [I would say further that such rebellion would not be sufficient punishment: rather the women, who otherwise could not harm him, ought to pray devoutly to the blessed soul of the good lady Judith that she beg God to deliver his people from this cursed Holofernes], 264–5 and 132–3. 17. Pizan, The Book of Peace, 155 and 285. 18. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:31, 142–3, II:33, 147–50 and III:3–4, 219–23. 19. Christine de Pizan, Le Livre des trois vertus, ed. Charity Cannon Willard and Eric Hicks (Paris: Champion, 1989); The Treasure of the City of Ladies, trans. Sarah Lawson (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985). 20. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, I:21, 24 & 25, 55–62.

Green_9781793613165.indb 34

15-04-2021 13:10:39

Christine’s “Ditié”

35

21. Colette Beaune and Élodie Lequain, “Marie de Berry et les livres,” in Livres et Lectures de femmes en Europe entre Moyen Âge et Renaissance ed. Anne-Marie Legaré (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007); Maureen Cheney Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan: A Critical Edition,” PhD Dissertation, Vanderbilt University, (1975), 362; Laidlaw, “A Publisher’s Progress,” 35–75; Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 228–86. 22. These were BnF fr. 24293 and BnF fr. 848. See Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan,” 514, Gianni Mombello, La tradizione manoscritta dell’ “Epistre Othéa” di Christine de Pizan (Torino: Accademia delle Scienze, 1967), 26, and Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 349, 532. 23. Maurice Roy identifies the recipient of this as Mary of Berry, see Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 1:304–5. However, this attribution is mistaken. In her City of Ladies, Christine refers to Mary of Berry by her proper title, Countess of Clermont, II:68, 213. Anne (the sister of Louis of Vendôme and Jacques of la March) was once married to the count of Montpensier, Mary of Berry’s brother, and had been widowed. She would have been known as “Damoiselle de Montpensier” until her remarriage to Louis of Bavaria, Isabeau of Bavaria’s brother, in 1402. She is described as “madamoiselle de Montpensier” in the duke of Berry’s accounts in 1400 and 1401, see Françoise Lehoux, Jean de France, duc de Berri: sa vie, son action politique (1340-1416), 4 vols. (Paris: Picard, 1966-68), 2:439 notes 2–3. 24. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:68, 214: “Similarly the woman whom you love, Anne, daughter of the late count of La Marche and sister of the present duke, married to Ludwig of Bavaria, brother of the Queen of France, does not discredit the company of women endowed with grace and praise, for her excellent virtues are well-known to God and the world.” 25. Although Louis of Vendôme was associated with the Orleans court until the death of Valentina Visconti in 1409, he was not an out-and-out Armagnac. During 1409–1410 he and his brother Jacques of La Marche were given the responsibility of organizing the management of the king’s finances, at a time during which John of Burgundy was influential in Paris, see Enguerrand Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the Adjoining Countries, translated by Thomas Johnes, 2 vols. (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849), II:59, vol. 1, p. 153. 26. Bertrand de Broussillon, La Maison Laval 1020–1605. Étude historique accompagnée du cartulaire de Laval et Vitré, 5 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1898), 3:16. 27. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:22, 131. Bertrand was first married to Tiphaine Raguel. This woman was well versed in astronomy and philosophy, and people said she was a fee, Cuvelier, Le Chanson de Bertrand Du Guesclin, 3 vols. (Toulouse: Editions Universitaires du Sud, 1990), 1:58; Simon de Phares, Le recueil des plus celebres astrologues de Simon de Phares, 2 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1997–9), 494. Jeanne-Ann Laval lived until 1433 or perhaps 1437, see Glynnis Cropp, “Les personnages féminins tirés de l’histoire de la France dans Le Livre de la Cité des Dames,” in Une Femme de lettres au Moyen Age, edited by Lilian Dulac and B Ribémont (Orleans: Paradigme, 1995), 200. 28. Broussillon, La Maison Laval 1020–1605, 2:237.

Green_9781793613165.indb 35

15-04-2021 13:10:39

36

Chapter 2

29. Pizan, Le Livre des faits et bonnes moeurs du roi Charles V le Sage, II:17, 149. 30. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, I:13, 35, II:68, 214. 31. See Pernoud, Christine de Pisan and Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works, who both comment on the coincidence but make nothing further of it. 32. Yann Grandeau, “Les enfants de Charles VI: essai sur la vie privée des princes et de princesses de la maison de France a la fin du Moyen Age,” Bulletin philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1967), 837. 33. Christine de Pizan, “Le Livre du dit de Poissy,” in Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 2:159–222; Barbara K. Altmann, The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1998), 203–58. Willard gives a detailed account of the convent and Christine’s visit in Charity Cannon Willard, “The Dominican Abbey of Poissy in 1400,” in Christine de Pizan 2000. Studies on Christine de Pizan in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by John Campbell and Nadia Margolis (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000), 209–20. 34. Altmann, The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan, 272. 35. A. Huart, Jacques de Bourbon, Roi de Sicile Frére mineur cordelier a Besançon (1370–1438) (Maison Saint-Roch, Belgium: Couvin, 1909), 67. His mother appears to have been Françoise Arnaud, he was born in 1379 and died in Estavayer in 1443. 36. Altmann, The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan, 213 and 66. 37. For the conjecture that the poem was intended for Jean le Meingre or Châteaumorand see Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works, 64.

Green_9781793613165.indb 36

15-04-2021 13:10:40

Chapter 3

Penthesilea’s Charity

Don’t you see you blind people, That God here has shown his hand? Who fails to see it is quite daft, For how could in this manner This young Maid achieve so much Who knocks you all down dead? You have no power that will suffice! Or is it God you wish to fight? Has she not led the king to be blessed And always holding his hand? Nothing greater since what occurred before Acre Has happened; for certainly There were opponents aplenty. But, despite all, most nobly He was received, and in plain view Anointed and heard mass. In greatest triumph and power Without doubt, Charles was crowned, At Reims; safe and sound, The year fourteen hundred and twenty-nine, Where men-at-arms and barons many, That seventeenth day Of July. Five days (more or less) The King there took his rest,

37

Green_9781793613165.indb 37

15-04-2021 13:10:40

38

Chapter 3

And with him the Maid. In returning through his country, Neither city, nor castle nor village Held out. Whether loving Or hating, whether afraid or Reassured, the inhabitants Surrendered. Few were invaded, So fearful were they of his power! True it is that some in their folly Dare resist, but little profit, For in the end, who goes against The word of God will pay the price. Nothing gained. Willing or not, Evil will be repaid. There is no Resistance so strong it does not die When the Maid attacks, Even when many were assembled Daring to counter his return And send him on his way; They need no more worry for the future, They are dead or taken one by one What opposition there was To hell or heaven, so I hear, Has well been sent. I don’t know if Paris will hold back (For they are not yet there) Nor whether the Maid will wait, But he who makes her his enemy, She will suffering in extremity No doubt render, as elsewhere, Even an hour and a half’s resistance, Will go badly, I believe, in the end, For they will enter no matter who moans! The Maid has promised him. Paris, do you believe Burgundy Will fight so he won’t occupy? He won’t, for these don’t Make each other enemies. None

Green_9781793613165.indb 38

15-04-2021 13:10:40

Penthesilea’s Charity

39

Who defend you are powerful And you and your presumption Will be subdued. Oh badly counselled Paris! Mad, doubting inhabitants! Would you rather be exiled Than make your prince obeisance? Certainly your contrariness Will be the end of you if you don’t watch out! Much better make yourselves humble Sue for mercy. Misguided ones!

In these verses, which come near the end of her poem, Christine shows herself to be extremely well informed about the situation at Reims. This is difficult to reconcile with the view that she is depending on snippets of information that have reached her in a monastery in Burgundian/English territory. Poissy had been taken by John of Burgundy in September 1417, so was in Burgundian hands. The town and convent of Poissy lie on the Seine between Paris and Rouen, both important strongholds of the English. There is therefore little reason to suppose that Poissy would have been kept immediately up to date about the events unfolding in other parts of France, given that, without safe-conducts from the English, the journey there and back would have been extremely dangerous for French messengers. Christine says that Charles stayed at Reims for about five days. This indicates that her information derived from some days after the coronation. Even if we accept the unlikely hypothesis that letters were sent immediately from Reims to Poissy, this trip would take some days, which gives Christine at best a week to pen her poem. One might argue that it is not a tremendously sophisticated poem and that Christine’s vast output shows that she could write quickly. The short time period led to some doubt over the date stated, prompting an alternative surmise. Reading the poem as a piece of propaganda intended to support Joan’s desire to attack Paris against Charles’s prevarications, two commentators have argued that the poem must have been written at a later date.1 But this is a completely unjustified surmise, belied by the fact that the poem includes the date of its composition, and holds out the prospect that Paris might capitulate, as so many other towns had done during the progress to Reims. More plausibly, Christine began the poem earlier and merely finished it after the coronation. The coronation took place in midsummer, but the first lines of the poem imply that the season is spring. Joan arrived at Chinon at the end of February and began to prepare for her mission to Orleans in April. If Christine began her poem in spring, as the first lines suggest, it

Green_9781793613165.indb 39

15-04-2021 13:10:40

40

Chapter 3

would appear to have begun as a piece of propaganda advertising Joan’s mission, which was only completed once the authenticity of her claim to be sent by God had been validated by the coronation. Her confident tone and detailed knowledge suggest that Christine was closer to the action than the claim that she was at Poissy admits. These stanzas are clearly meant to advertise Joan’s successes. They are also intended to soften up the Parisians, and to encourage them to accept Charles as their legitimate ruler. If Christine had only heard of Joan secondhand it is unlikely that she would have been so certain of her divine status. But Christine’s poem contains many features that show that she was well informed concerning all the reasons for accepting Joan and for trusting in her divine inspiration. Although the evidence that Christine was at Poissy is less than compelling, we should note the odd fact that various people more or less closely associated with Joan had relatives who were nuns at Poissy. Among these was Charles of Clermont’s sister Isabelle who according to some sources was a nun at Poissy. So too was a relation of Joan’s page, Louis de Coutes, whose namesake and relation paid a sum to his niece, another nun at Poissy, Marguerite d’Harville.2 In the light of the fact that the English captain, Talbot, later sacked this convent, during the campaign over Pontoise in 1441, stripping the nuns of their goods and sending the booty to Mantes, one cannot absolutely discount the possibility that Poissy was earlier a site of feminine resistance to the English.3 There is also some evidence that Joan camped near Poissy at some time in 1429, but this was probably after the stated date of Christine’s poem, the last day of July, at which time Joan was almost certainly at Chateau-Thierry.4 Since Christine says in her poem that she does not know whether the king’s army has yet reached Paris, it would seem that her news of their movements must date from a time earlier than any date at which Joan could have been in contact with Poissy. In the year 2000, Deborah Fraioli published an erudite discussion of the documents which survive from the contemporary debate held when Joan first appeared at Chinon. It provides an invaluable source of information concerning the way in which she and her mission were represented in letters and treatises written prior to her trial. These letters convey the news of her appearance and raise the question of whether she and her mission are worthy of belief. They show that when she first appeared Joan was described as bringing prophecies, which were of benefit to the crown. Fraioli argues that there is a striking thematic coincidence between Christine’s poem and Joan’s own letters. She argues that the poem shows evidence of a knowledge of all the features of Joan’s letters and the other documents of the early debate, and surmises that it must therefore have been based on an acquaintance with the full dossier of documents relating to Joan’s mission. Fraioli does not explain why, or how, such a dossier would have been delivered to Poissy.5 But she

Green_9781793613165.indb 40

15-04-2021 13:10:40

Penthesilea’s Charity

41

attributes the information contained in the poem to Christine’s access to these documents, and, according to her, the themes and tone of the poem constitute a departure for Christine. I will demonstrate, by contrast, that the poem echoes many themes in Christine’s earlier writing. It is the last in a long line of political works produced by Christine to uphold the dignity of the crown of France, to encourage the maintenance of peace, and to celebrate the influence of inspired women in restoring peace. In 1399 Christine had penned her first feminist poem, her Letter from the God of Love (Epistre de Dieu d’Amours).6 There she urged men to be loyal to women to whom they owe so much, and mused that if women had written the books they would have been written differently. Soon after this she attempted the first of her more serious works, the Othea, in which women play an elevated role as moral guides and sources of wisdom. The Othea is made up of 100 stories, each consisting in a text, a gloss and an allegory. It is the fifteenth story which is most interesting for the history of Joan, for in the duke’s manuscript, in the possession of Mary of Berry, as well as in the queen’s manuscript, this story is accompanied by a miniature which one could easily mistake for an image of Joan. In these exemplars, one created for John of Berry in about 1409, and the other presented to Isabeau of Bavaria in 1414, the Amazon Penthesilea can be seen riding into battle in full armor.7 Her horse is richly caparisoned, while female knights surround her, carrying lances and standards. Penthesilea played an important role in the mythic history of the kings of France. She was an Amazon and warrior virgin who, in the legendary history of France, had saved Hector’s son, Francio, from the destruction of Troy, in order to allow him, ultimately, to establish the dynasty of the French kings. But in this compilation, Christine uses her in a rather surprising way, associating her with the virtue of charity. The first four texts of Othea illustrate the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, and force (fortitude). The fifth concerns glory or renown. These are followed by chapters on the powers of the seven planets and the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Penthesilea the Amazon queen is allegorized as charity. The translated text goes as follows: Hold Penthesilea dear She will be aggrieved by your death. Such a woman must be loved well, From whom such a noble voice is sprung.8

In the gloss, Christine tells the story of Penthesilea, the Amazon queen, who according to the history of Troy (at this time accepted as fact) intervened during the Trojan War to help Hector. Arriving too late to save her hero, and finding him dead, she and her Amazons avenge his death. In versions of the

Green_9781793613165.indb 41

15-04-2021 13:10:40

42

Chapter 3

story derived from the Ancient History up to Caesar (L’histoire ancienne jusqu’à César) and retold by Christine in later works, she celebrates and elaborates Penthesilea’s actions.9 In the Othea, Penthesilea is said to stand for charity, which is like the rain that falls in spring. So, the spring that Christine evokes at the beginning of the Ditié with the words “that beautiful season that we call spring . . . when everything is renewed, and from the desert, green life bursts” echoes and harks back to the theological virtue of charity, which falls like the rain in spring. The image is even more striking when one takes into account Christine’s thoughts on the virtue of charity. To modern ears the virtue of charity is equated with almsgiving, and it is rather incongruous to think of an Amazonian warrior as the incarnation of this virtue. But Christine understood by charity that virtue which promotes the love of God and love of our neighbor. At this period, the monk or nun’s devotion to the service and love of God was understood as the most genuine charity. In her Book of the Three Virtues Christine had emphasized that the life of active devotion to the good of others is also charity.10 It is this active charity which she had allegorized thirty years before Joan’s appearance as Penthesilea the warrior maid, and we will see that this figure of charity reappears in later poetical contexts connected with Joan and indebted to Christine. Hector the Trojan hero, ancestor of the French kings, functions as an icon for Christine of both the ancient legitimacy of the French crown and the contemporary danger of a national disaster of the kind that befell the Trojans at the hands of the Greeks. In retelling the story of Troy she expressed both her fears for the contemporary crown and her aspiration that the French monarchs will live up to their historical mission to be universal, Christian monarchs.11 Penthesilea, who saved the ancestor of the French kings, functions in Christine’s long poem, Mutation of Fortune, as an icon of Christine’s own metaphorical transformation into a masculine woman whose desire is to help, through her writing, save the crown of France.12 Some twenty-five years later, Joan appeared and literally replayed this ancient drama that had been so central to Christine’s earlier thought. In the City of Ladies, Christine’s most fully worked out defense of women, reason, righteousness, and justice, appear in order to help her construct an allegorical city, founded on the field of letters, in which women would be protected from the slanders of men and recognized as men’s spiritual equals. In this book she returned to the Amazons, relating their history, along with those of many other historical and mythical women, as examples of women’s capacity to exercise reason and to actively intervene to change the course of history. The city of ladies is presided over by the Virgin Mary, the “head of the feminine sex.” Justice, introducing her asks, “What man is so brazen to dare think or say that the feminine sex is vile in beholding your dignity?”13 Following closely after this book, The Book of the Three Virtues (Le Livre des

Green_9781793613165.indb 42

15-04-2021 13:10:41

Penthesilea’s Charity

43

Trois Vertus) advised noblewomen on how to be effective princesses, how to rule in their husbands’ absence, and how to intercede on behalf of peace. In her Letter to the Queen of France (L’epistre à la Reine), she urged Isabeau of Bavaria to intercede to bring about the peace in 1405, alluding once again to biblical examples of women who had played this role.14 As noted, Mary of Berry owned her father’s collection of Christine’s works, which included the City of Ladies and the Othea, and her daughterin-law, Agnes, independently possessed copies of these works. It is noteworthy that another of her daughters-in-law, the second wife of Louis of Montpensier, Gabrielle de la Tour, also possessed a number of manuscripts of Christine’s works, including the City of Ladies, Letter of Othea, and Duke of True Lovers.15 So there can be no doubt that Joan appeared in a milieu in which Christine was read and appreciated. Joan fulfilled two of Christine’s most sincerely held beliefs. The first was her belief in the capacity of women to do great things, to change the course of history, to be wise and inspired by God, and to bring spiritual benefit to their people. The second was her belief in the need for a strong monarch, divinely ordained and virtuous, upheld by wise counselors and advisers, who have the capacity to maintain peace, repel rebels, and avoid civil conflict. Ideally he would be the emperor of all Christendom whose virtues Christine had outlined in her poem The Long Path of Learning.16 Joan was the fulfillment of all Christine’s desires, a woman who, as we shall see, brought to fruition the Charlemagne prophecy that promised just such an emperor. Christine says, “at last my desire is come,” and she could not have been more precise. An apparent miracle had fulfilled her deepest wish. Indeed, Joan is so much the fulfillment of Christine’s desires that it is hardly believable that Christine had nothing to do with her appearance. What does she mean when she says, “Well I endured my part”? Christine is a subtle writer, she expects an audience who can read between the lines, the French “bien me part avoir endure” (I’ve suffered my share) resonates with the thought “bien me part avoir joué” (I played my part well). Is she hinting that she played a part in the appearance? Surely, she had rather more to do with the events leading up to this miracle than the story told by those who want to believe in God’s direct intervention in the history of France. The first lines of Christine’s poem echo an earlier poem put in the mouth of the Cumean Sibyl which had promised a prophetic restoration of France from her state of defeat. Subtly in these lines Christine is suggesting that it is she who is like a sibyl, the source of prophetic wisdom, and we will see in a later chapter, that Martin le Franc casts Christine in exactly this sibylline role. Christine’s poem also shows that she has considerable knowledge of the state of play between Charles VII and Philip, duke of Burgundy. She suggests to the Parisians that Burgundy is not Charles’s enemy, and indeed, for some

Green_9781793613165.indb 43

15-04-2021 13:10:41

44

Chapter 3

time negotiations designed to bring the Burgundians into the French fold, and to isolate the English, had been underway. Just prior to the campaign which raised the siege of Orleans, there had been a deputation from the town to the duke of Burgundy, proposing that he should arrange for the siege to be raised and then govern the town in the name of his cousin the duke of Orleans. The English would not agree to this arrangement, which may have been a serious diplomatic blunder, for it resulted in Burgundy withdrawing his troops from the siege.17 Charles’s aim was to drive a wedge between the English and Burgundy and Joan appears to have also wanted to achieve the ultimate aim of such negotiations (Burgundy’s recognition of his feudal obligations to Charles VII, which would not be achieved until 1435 at Arras) by inviting the duke of Burgundy to attend the coronation at Reims. On the seventeenth of July, she had sent a letter to Philip, headed “Jesus Maria,” which called on him to agree to a firm and long peace with the King of France: High and revered prince, duke of Burgundy, Joan the Maid requests in the name of the King of Heaven, my right and sovereign lord, that the king of France and you make a good strong peace of long duration. Pardon each other completely and with good heart as should loyal Christians; and if you choose to make war, make it on the Saracens. Prince of Burgundy, I pray you, supplicate and request as humbly as it is possible to request, that you make war no longer on the holy realm of France, and quickly and immediately make those of your people who are occupying certain places and fortresses of the said holy realm, retreat; and as for the gentle king of France, he is ready to make peace with you, by his honour, if only he can rely on you. And I make it known to you that by the King of Heaven, my right and sovereign lord, for your good and for your honour and on your life, you will win no battles against the loyal French, and all of those who fight against the said holy realm of France fight against king Jesus, King of Heaven and all the world, my right and sovereign lord. And I pray and request you with hands clasped, that you make no war or battle against us, you, your people or subjects; and be certain that no matter how many people you send against us, they will never win, and there will be great misery from the great battle and the blood which will be spilt of those who would come here against us. And three weeks ago I wrote and sent to you good letters by a herald, that you might be at the anointing of the king which took place, today Sunday 17th day of this present month of July, in the city of Reims: whereof I have had no response, nor have I had any news of that herald. I commend you to God and that he should take care of you, if it pleases him; and pray God that he will make a good peace. Written at Reims on the said 17th day of July. (figure 3.1)18

It is clear from this letter that Joan had earlier written to Burgundy inviting him to attend the coronation at Reims, and thus to recognize Charles’s claim

Green_9781793613165.indb 44

15-04-2021 13:10:42

Penthesilea’s Charity

45

Figure 3.1  Joan’s Letter to the Duke of Burgundy. Source: © Archives Departmentales le Nord.

to the crown of France, and to reject the claims of Henry VI. Although Philip did not come to the coronation, diplomatic negotiations with him had been opened up at the end of June. His ambassador had come to see Joan at the end of May.19 These negotiations did not immediately lead to the long firm peace Joan desired. It was only through the negotiations that culminated with the Treaty of Arras in 1435 that Burgundy would finally switch his allegiance. Then solemn oaths of forgiveness and friendship would be sworn by the French and Burgundians and the end of the English domination of France would be well advanced. When Christine wrote her poem, the outcome of these negotiations would not have been clear. Yet Christine is very well informed concerning the state of diplomatic play, and despite the fact that Charles’s sister Marie was there, it is rather improbable that news of the exchanges going ahead between Charles and Philip would have reached the monastery of Poissy. If we do suppose that Christine was at Poissy, the fact that she was so well supplied with information concerning Joan and her letters implies that, for some reason, it must have been important to keep Poissy up to date with the unfolding events. Three possibilities therefore present themselves. Either, as Fraioli and the conventional accounts claim, Christine was at Poissy and had no influence on Joan’s appearance but, at the last moment, as it were, she was provided with a dossier of documents on which she based her poem. Alternatively, while at Poissy she had been influential, through intermediaries, in the process that led to the appearance of Joan and was for that reason kept abreast of events. Or, she was not at Poissy. Either the second or third of these alternatives is most likely true. For, it is far more probable that the coincidence in themes

Green_9781793613165.indb 45

15-04-2021 13:10:42

46

Chapter 3

found in Christine’s writings, early and late, and in the documents relating to Joan is the result of the transmission of ideas from Christine to Joan, than that Christine’s ideas, late in life, were formed by an illiterate peasant maid. The letter that was sent by Joan to Philip of Burgundy still exists. It was not penned by Joan, who could not write, but we can assume that it was dictated by her, and shown to “members of her party” for endorsement, as she indicated at her trial.20 Joan was illiterate, although by the end of her brief career, she had learned to sign her name. A variety of different scribes actually wrote her letters. By a strange coincidence, the person who wrote this letter did so in a hand very like one of the hands of the usual scribes of Christine’s works. Three different scribes have been identified as working on the earliest manuscripts of Christine’s works, produced under her supervision. They have been designated using the letters “P,” “R,” and “X,” the last being identified as Christine.21 The similarity is striking, but since the science of the identification of handwriting is not very exact, and at this period, hands were rather formal, only an expert could make a definitive judgment. Christine and her scribes wrote in a court hand in which others were well trained, and it has to be admitted that, as a result, various individuals wrote in a very similar fashion. There has been controversy over the identification of the hands of Christine’s scribes and some scholars have doubted whether the hand identified as Christine’s is indeed hers, though an authoritative catalog of Christine’s manuscripts now offers a definitive set of examples.22 Autograph manuscripts reproduced elsewhere in this work should allow the reader to recognize that the similarities are striking and many of the identifying features of Christine’s scribes are to be found in the letter to the duke of Burgundy. There are also minor differences, the most obvious of which is that there is a more pronounced slope on the long s’s and f’s in the letter than in the manuscripts, but this could well be the result of a slightly more informal hand being used in the letter. When I first discovered the similarity between the hand purported to be one of Christine’s scribes and that of the person who penned Joan’s letter, I thought that my case for Christine’s influence on Joan was made. My initial hunches had been based on a similarity in themes and an argument to the best explanation. What was lacking was hard documentary evidence. So, on first seeing Joan’s letter to Burgundy I was overwhelmed. The coincidence of a similar hand, given the background similarity of theme, looked like clinching documentary evidence. But old theories die hard. Even this evidence can be questioned. And so, it seems that the best I can do is to offer the reader the chance to compare Joan’s letter to Burgundy with the manuscript pages reproduced in figures 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, and 11.3, each of which has been identified as being in Christine’s hand. Even if it is not possible to demonstrate that Joan’s letter to Burgundy was written by Christine or one of her scribes, what is undeniable is that

Green_9781793613165.indb 46

15-04-2021 13:10:43

Penthesilea’s Charity

47

the doctrine of sovereignty implicit in it is exactly that advocated by her. Joan’s letter is quite simple, and yet it resonates with the thought that in going against his right and sovereign lord, the King of France, Burgundy is transgressing against his right and sovereign lord, the King of Heaven. In her political writings Christine emphasizes that the prince should not be proud, because he is invested with a responsibility by God, who is his rightful lord. The good king is like the good shepherd, who cares for his flock, and ultimately he is answerable to his lord for having performed this duty well.23 Within the hierarchical feudal society, that Christine accepted and moralized, each subject owed their allegiance to the lord above them, and in doing so was fulfilling their duty to God, the ultimate rightful sovereign. So, when Joan says, “And all of those who fight against the said holy realm of France fight against king Jesus, King of Heaven and all the world, my right and sovereign lord,” she is making no idle threat. She is pointing out that, in accordance with Burgundy’s status as a traditional vassal of France, he is going against God, who has determined that Charles be King of France. Of course, this doctrine was not unique to Christine.24 But it must have been transmitted to Joan from some source. The standard fairy tale offers a very unsatisfactory explanation of the strength and coherence of Joan’s political opinions. Either, God provided her with supernatural informants, who taught her the rudiments of medieval political theory, or she acquired these rudiments from some human source before she came to France, or, the views expressed in her letters are not hers at all, but are ascribed to her by Charles’s secretaries, or whoever it is who actually penned her letters. Since the first suggestion goes against all experience and is totally implausible, we should accept either the second or third possibility. It is clearly possible that a young woman, who claimed to be inspired by God, was used by Charles’s courtiers as a conduit through which they expressed their own political views. It is thus, as a pawn in the hands of others, that one recent historian represents her.25 But this would be rather a sad conclusion, for the letters that are taken to be an expression of Joan’s faith would have to be deemed fraudulent. If these letters do capture Joan’s own words, then she must at some stage have imbibed these political principles and learned to articulately express them. According to one of the pretty stories told about Joan, she asked Charles to give her his kingdom. She then returned it to him from God.26 Whatever the truth of this tale, it makes graphic the notion, so dear to Christine, that a king receives his crown from God, and that he will be answerable in the next life for the manner in which he carried out his kingly responsibilities. Clearly then, Joan subscribed to the then widely accepted view, laid out by Christine in her political treatises, that the prince received his crown from God, and was responsible to God for the peaceful maintenance of his realm. The obedience that a vassal owed to his lord was no more or less than the obedience owed to

Green_9781793613165.indb 47

15-04-2021 13:10:43

48

Chapter 3

God, and Joan might well have ended her letter to Burgundy with Christine’s rhetorical question, “Is it God you wish to fight?” While it may seem unlikely that Christine was at Reims, writing Joan’s letter for her, and encouraging her in her role of Penthesilea reborn, she seems to have been too well informed about contemporary events to have been at Poissy. Not only does Joan behave as Christine would have desired, she also speaks as Christine would have wanted her to speak, and one of her letters looks as though it was penned by one of Christine’s scribes. This may simply be a coincidence, but it is highly suggestive, and it should make us look at the testimony from her trial with a critical eye. Evidence from the trial and from elsewhere substantiates the claim that somebody did in fact train her, once this is established we can return to the possibility that this could have been Christine.

NOTES 1. Anne Lutkus and Julia Walker, “PR pas PC Christine de Pizan’s Pro-Joan Propaganda,” in Fresh Verdicts of Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood (New York: Garland, 1996), 145–60. Their arguments have been discussed and rejected by Angus Kennedy, “La Date du Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc,” in Au champ des escriptures, edited by Eric Hicks (Paris: Champion, 2000), 759–70. The case for thinking that Christine was not at Poissy is developed in my “Was Christine de Pizan at Poissy 1418–1429?,” Medium Ævum 83 (2014), 28–40. 2. “Obiligation faite l’an 1428 par Louis de Coutes seigneur de Noviant et de Hebrecourt, en faveur de Marguerite de Harville, sa nièce, religieuse à Poissy (volume 918 Cabinet des titres extraits du Prieur de Mondonville),” Amicie de Foulques de Villaret, Louis de Coutes (Orleans: n.p, 1890), 34–5. Since Louis de Coutes was only fourteen years old in 1428, it may well not be he who paid this money. However, there seems to be another person related to Louis de Coutes who was écuyer in 1423, Foulques de Villaret, Louis de Coutes, 39. 3. Enguerrand Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France Spain and the adjoining countries, trans. Thomas Johnes, 2 vols. (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849), II:60, vol. 2, p. 117. The most recent biography of Christine argues that at least three of the nuns at Poissy, including the prioress, Yolande de Norry, were supporters of Charles VII, Françoise Autrand, Christine de Pizan. Une femme en politique (Paris: Fayard, 2009), 439. 4. Willard, “The Dominican Abbey of Poissy in 1400,” in Christine de Pizan 2000. Studies on Christine de Pizan in honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by John Campbell and Nadia Margolis (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000), 209–20 (208). 5. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 108. 6. Pizan, Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 2.1–26; Renate BlumenfeldKosinski (ed.), The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan (New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 1998), 15–29. 7. For this dating of Isabeau’s manuscript see James Laidlaw, “Christine de Pizan, le duc de Bourbon et le manuscrit de la reine (Londres, British Library, Harley

Green_9781793613165.indb 48

15-04-2021 13:10:43

Penthesilea’s Charity

49

MS 4431),” in La Chevalerie du Moyen Age à nos jours: mélanges offerts á Michel Stanesco, edited by Mihaela Voicu and Victor-Dinu Vladulesco (Bucharest: Editura Universitătii din Bucuresti, 2003, 332–44. 8. Christine de Pizan, Othea’s Letter to Hector, trans. Renate BlumenfeldKosinski and Earl Jeffrey Richards (Toronto, Ontario: Iter Press, 2017), 53. 9. Paul Meyer, “Les premières compilations françaises d’histoire ancienne,” Romania 14 (1885), 1–81, and Pizan, Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, lines 13457–13884 and 17561–17896. 10. Pizan, Le Livre des trois vertus; Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, 50–5. 11. Kevin Brownlee, “Hector and Penthesilea in the Livre de la Mutacion de Fortune: Christine de Pizan and the Politics of Myth,” in Une femme de Lettres au Moyen Age, edited by Lilian Dulac and Bernard Ribémont (Orleans: Paradigme, 1995), 69–82. 12. Pizan, Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, lines 136–56. 13. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, III.1, 218. 14. Pizan, The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life, 75–9. 15. Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan,” 554. For the inventory of her library see M. A. de Boislisle, “Inventaire des bijoux, vètements, manuscrits et objets préciux appartenant a la comtesse de Montpensier, 1474,” Annuaire-Bulletin de la Societe de l’Histoire de France Paris 17 (1880), 269–309. 16. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude. 17. Roger G. Little, The Parlement of Poitiers. War, Government and Politics in France 1418–1466 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1984), 93. 18. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:126–7. A slightly different English translation can be found in Taylor (ed.) Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 95–6. 19. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:497–8. 20. W. P. Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1931), 71; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 1:84. 21. Gilbert Ouy and Christine M. Reno, “Identification des autographes de Christine de Pizan,” Scriptorium 34 (1980), 221–38. 22. Gilbert Ouy and Christine M. Reno, “Les Hésitations de Christine: Etudes des variantes de graphies dans trois manuscripts autographes de Christine de Pizan,” Revue des Langues Romanes 92, no. 2 (1988), 256–93; Gabriella Parussa, “Orthographes et autographes. Quelques considérations sur l’orthographe de Christine de Pizan,” Romania 117 (1999), 143–58; James Laidlaw, “Christine de Pizan and the Manuscript Tradition,” in Christine de Pizan: A Casebook, edited by Barbara K. Altmann and Deborah McGrady (New York and London: Routledge, 2003), 231–49; Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan. 23. Pizan, The Book of the Body Politic; Le Livre du corps de policie. 24. See, for instance, Jacques Krynen, Idéal du prince et pourvoir royal en France à la fin du Moyen Age (1380–1440). Étude de la litterature politique du temps (Paris: Picard, 1981). 25. Minois, Charles VII, 249. 26. Léopold Delisle, “Nouveau témoinage relatif à la mission de Jeanne d’Arc,” Bibiothèque de l’Ecole de Chartes 46 (1885), 652.

Green_9781793613165.indb 49

15-04-2021 13:10:44

Green_9781793613165.indb 50

15-04-2021 13:10:44

Chapter 4

Joan’s Testimony

To which Joan answered that concerning her father and mother, and everything she had done since she took the road for France, she would willingly swear. But as for revelations sent her by God, never had she told or revealed them save to Charles, who she said was her King, and she would not reveal them even if her head should be cut off, because she would not reveal to anyone what she knew from her visions or her secret council, and within the following eight days she would know whether she ought to reveal these things.1

Joan’s career as a warrior lasted a mere twelve months. It was May when the siege at Orleans was lifted, and it was in May of the next year that she was captured trying to lift the siege of another strategic town, Compiègne on the Oise. Some of the brilliance of her first victory had by then worn off. An attempt had been made on Paris in September, but Joan had been wounded, and the French had not managed to capture the town as she had promised they would. Raoul de Gaucourt had to drag her away from the fighting against her will, and the French had suffered heavy casualties. It seemed that God was not always on her side. Rifts had opened between her and some of Charles VII’s other captains. The chancellor of France, Renault de Chartres, accused her, after her capture, of having been proud and willful.2 Nor was she obviously as innocent and virtuous as when she first appeared. When on a cold evening in March 1429, Louis of Vendôme had first escorted her into the presence of Charles at Chinon, she had been dressed as a page in a simple dark doublet, a black hat on head, as she is represented in a manuscript from 1441 (figure 4.1). By May of the next year she was a knight, the king had granted a coat of arms to her and her brothers, who fought at her side. She now wore a rich tabard of cloth of gold over her armor. While some of Charles’s advisers were 51

Green_9781793613165.indb 51

15-04-2021 13:10:44

52

Chapter 4

Figure 4.1  Joan and Judith, Le Champion des Dames. Source: BnF, fr. 12476, f. 101v, © BnF.

advocating truces with Burgundy, she wished to continue fighting even though many more senior knights felt that it was time for regrouping and negotiation. Louis of Vendôme had been with her almost to the last. Only a few days before her capture, he had returned toward the valley of the Marne, not choosing to accompany her back to Compiègne. Her last sortie ended when the gates of the town were closed to her, during a melee from which her troops were retreating in the face of unexpectedly strong opposition. A Burgundian archer pulled her from her horse by her golden garment, and she became a prisoner of John of Luxembourg, a vassal of Burgundy.

Green_9781793613165.indb 52

15-04-2021 13:10:45

Joan’s Testimony

53

It was not until January that, having been sold to the English, Joan was brought before the Inquisition in the cathedral at Rouen. Being reluctant to perjure herself she refused to swear to tell the complete truth and swore only to tell the truth about her family and her activities since she had come into France. So, from the beginning it is clear that Joan was not being completely candid during her trial, and we should assume that her testimony is partly confabulation. It is not until her trial that we hear about the voices of Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, and Saint Michael speaking to her. Her secret counsel and her visions do not correspond to anything in the record of her appearance that was written down before the trial.3 The evidence from the trial must therefore be treated with some suspicion. Joan made it quite clear that she would not be candid concerning the secret that she had revealed to Charles. She also said, oddly enough, that within eight days she would know certainly whether she might reveal her secrets.4 One cannot help thinking that here she is protecting someone. She expects to hear, within the week, whether she should reveal the revelations from God that she had brought from Lorraine. Until then she is not prepared to swear to tell the complete truth. Joan is not the only person who held back from a complete disclosure of the events that led to her appearance. Twenty-five years after her condemnation as a lapsed heretic, when Charles VII had finally ousted the English from Rouen, a rehabilitation trial was conducted which repudiated the conclusions of the trial that had resulted in Joan’s condemnation. Those people still living, who had known Joan, were called to testify concerning the orthodoxy of her faith. Jean Pasquerel, who had been her confessor, was one of the people called. He says, near the end of his deposition, “Our lord king and the duke of Alençon have a complete knowledge of her acts and doings, they are informed about many secrets; they could if they wanted to do so, reveal these secrets.”5 Since both Joan and Pasquerel refer to secrets, there is every reason to attempt to look behind the surface story to uncover what these secrets were. The problem for those, like the present author, who are skeptics concerning Joan’s voices is that it is clear from her words that in a deep sense she believed in her mission. But sincere belief in the validity of the message conveyed to her by her voices, and in the justice of her mission, is quite compatible with the nonexistence of literal apparitions. It was a commonplace of medieval rhetoric to represent a truth as having been conveyed to one by a higher source. Almost all the political allegories of Joan’s time involved the appearance of spirits who came to console, advise, and enlighten the authors of these works. This device is a constant in Christine’s works. No one reading the Book of the City of Ladies thinks that the visions Christine reports, the three wise ladies, Reason, Righteousness, and Justice, who come to visit her and console her, are literal. They are a means for giving authority to the author. She, who is nobody, speaks with the voice of truth that reveals itself

Green_9781793613165.indb 53

15-04-2021 13:10:45

54

Chapter 4

to her in a vision. Similarly, Joan’s voices could well be read allegorically, or as a device suggested to her by allegorical writings which she had heard. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret are female Christian saints, martyrs for Christianity. To say that their voices speak to her, that she sees them in a vision, is not necessarily to say any more than that she is inspired by their story and example. By calling on them she gives her perception of the truth an authority that it would otherwise lack. Joan’s voices can equally be read, as they were interpreted by Jean Beaupère, who questioned her during the trial, as a disguised account of the appearance of the embodied voices of those who discovered her, trained her, and sent her on her mission. It is highly likely that the prelates at Joan’s trial encouraged her to represent her inspiration from God as embodied, for in doing so she allowed herself to lapse into heresy. Indeed, at the rehabilitation, Martin Ladvenu, a Dominican who had been present at Joan’s trial, admitted that this had been the case: They put questions to her which were too difficult in order to catch her out by her own words and opinions. For she was a poor, rather simple woman who scarcely knew her Pater Noster and Ave Maria.6

A careful analysis of Joan’s mission should therefore treat Joan’s trial testimony with suspicion. Since it is only from the trial that we derive the belief that Joan saw visions, this central feature of the traditional story rests on flimsy evidence. A recent historian who has attempted to give a naturalistic account of Joan’s experience has interpreted her “voices” as a response to the turmoil of adolescence.7 Yet such an interpretation forces us to swallow a number of highly implausible coincidences. A girl, who suffers from an extreme— perhaps borderline schizophrenic—reaction to puberty, hears voices. She understands them as enjoining her to retain her virginity. By coincidence her appearance fits in with well-known prophecies. She happens, by chance, to live in close proximity to an oak forest. Equally fortuitously, when she presents herself to the king, it is remembered that a prophecy of Merlin tells of a virgin who will appear out of an oak forest.8 Far more likely is the hypothesis that embodied voices spoke to Joan and convinced her that she had been elected to fulfill God’s divine mission, partly inspired by the fact that she lived near an oak wood that could be interpreted as a prophetic sign. It is true that Joan when asked about this prophecy said that she put no faith in it.9 This is evidence that from Joan’s point of view, this particular prophecy was not central to her inspiration. But her disclaimer also needs to be read in the context of a trial in which the inquisitors’ purpose was to show that she had crossed the border that divided divine inspiration from diabolical superstition.

Green_9781793613165.indb 54

15-04-2021 13:10:46

Joan’s Testimony

55

On the second day of the trial Joan said that she would answer some things truly and some not.10 On the third day she reiterated, “It could be that there are many things you might ask of me of which I would not tell you the truth, especially concerning the revelations.”11 So we should interpret her testimony as a mixture of truth and falsehood. She spoke of her voice, how it came to her first at the age of thirteen, on a summer’s day when she was in her father’s garden. Later it came to her two or three times a week, and particularly in the woods. It told her how to behave, and that she must come into France, and she added that Jean Beaupère would not learn from her at that time in what form the voice appeared to her. She also claimed that those of her party knew well that the voice was sent to her from God, and “they saw and knew this voice.”12 Indeed in this particular testimony she claims that the king and several others heard and saw the voices which came to her, and there were present Charles of Bourbon (the count of Clermont who participated at the coronation) and two or three others. Later, on Saturday, March 10, during the first session in prison, she said that the archbishop of Reims, others she knows not, Charles of Bourbon, the sire de la Trémouïlle, and the duke of Alençon saw and heard her sign as distinctly as she saw those speaking and standing before her. Later she was asked whether the sign still exists, and replied, “Yes certainly, and it will last for a thousand years and more.” She said the sign is with the king’s treasure.13 She is convinced that God loves the duke of Orleans, and she has had more revelations concerning him than any man except King Charles. His deliverance is part of her mission, though it is the part that she does not accomplish.14 By the fifth session Joan puts off the time when she may be able to reveal her secret promise to three months. She is asked whether her voices had told her that she will be delivered from prison in three months. She then said something which is translated as, “those who wish to get her out of the world might well precede her.”15 She also said the she had not seen Saint Michael since she left the castle of Crotoy. Such a precise timing certainly suggests a real person. Moreover, although Joan claims that her voices continue to speak to her and urge her to speak boldly, she was clearly skeptical of the visions of Catherine de la Rochelle, another visionary to whom she had been introduced.16 Indeed when Joan claimed that her sign had been seen by many people, she may have been attempting to differentiate herself from Catherine. She relates the fact that in order to test Catherine, who claimed visions came to her during the night, Joan spent three nights with her. But she saw no apparitions and had no faith in Catherine’s claims. By contrast other people knew and heard Joan’s voice, and the sign she delivered was also seen by others. There is therefore plenty of evidence that Joan’s “voices” had public, visible bodies and were by no means apparitions.

Green_9781793613165.indb 55

15-04-2021 13:10:46

56

Chapter 4

Often during her trial Joan says that her voices continued to speak to her even in prison. If we think that she is merely speaking of her inspiration this claim is not a problem. But if we think that her voices belonged to real people these assertions have to be considered as counterevidence. Of course, we do not have to make Joan’s testimony consistent. She answered the inquisitor’s leading questions as best she could without indicting herself. Still, her assertions about her voices raise the question of whether her supporters could have been communicating with her even at Rouen. It seems incredible that they should have been able to do so, and I will not surmise as to how they might have done so. It is enough to observe that many of her contemporaries interpreted Joan’s evasions as evidence that she was not being forthcoming concerning her real advisers. Jean Beaupère still avowed at the rehabilitation that he thought other human agents had much to do with the case.17 Even the conclusion of the Council of Poitiers, which we will examine more fully later, admits to the involvement of human agents in Joan’s appearance. Another witness to the high probability that Joan had been encouraged by human voices is Pope Pius II, the famous Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini. He had heard, as a young man, the first reports to reach Rome concerning Joan’s appearance, and he gave an account of them in his memoirs. He took seriously the thought that Joan’s appearance was the work of men. At the end of his account of her exploits he says, Whether she was a divine work or a human invention I would find it difficult to say. Some think that, when the English cause was prospering and the French nobles were at variance among themselves and thought no one fit to be commander, one shrewder than the rest evolved the cunning scheme of declaring that a virgin had been sent by heaven, and of giving her the command that she asked for, since there was no man alive who would refuse to have God as his leader. And so, it happened that the conduct of the war and the high command were entrusted to a girl.18

I concur with the hypothesis that Pius II formulates, disagreeing with him only over the sex of the profound political imagination which conceived the need for Joan’s intervention. For we will see that there is more than circumstantial evidence that her intervention was in fact the result of the political imagination of a woman or group of women. Many strange features of Joan’s story stand out. She was in most respects an uneducated young woman from the country, but witnesses commented on her considerable military knowledge and her knowledge of court manners. The duke of Alençon said of her military prowess: “Joan, in these matters, apart from the matter of war, was simple and young, but in the matter of war she was very expert, in the management of the lance as in the drawing up of

Green_9781793613165.indb 56

15-04-2021 13:10:47

Joan’s Testimony

57

the army in battle order and in preparing the artillery. And at that all marvelled, that she acted in so prudent and well-advised a fashion in the manner of war as might a captain of twenty or thirty years’ experience.”19 Thibault d’Armagnac, another who fought with her, said almost the same: “Apart from the matter of war, she was simple and ignorant. But in the conduct and disposition of armies and in the matter of warfare, in drawing up the army in battle order and heartening the soldiers, she behaved as if she had been the shrewdest captain in the world and had all her life been learning the art of war.”20 A similar comment was made by Marguerite la Touroulde, the wife of Bouligny, with whom Joan stayed at Bourges.21 An incident which took place during the march to Reims provides evidence of Joan’s understanding of military affairs. Charles’s army had laid siege to Troyes, but they were ill equipped for a long siege, their provisions were low, and for a week many of the soldiers had been living on a diet of crushed heads of wheat and green beans.22 A council was called to determine what course of action was wisest, some were for turning back, others for pushing on without attempting to take the town, which was well provisioned and defended by English and Burgundian troops. Joan was called to the assembly on the advice of Robert le Maçon and asked her opinion as to what should be done. She promised that within two days the siege would be lifted.23 Then, mounting a warhorse, with a baton in her hand, she set to organizing the knights, archers, squires, and other troops. She positioned the cannon and bombards that were available; set the troops to work in order to provide the wood, faggots, and ladders necessary for an assault; and all in all organized the troops as skillfully as a captain who had been fighting all his life.24 Seeing these preparations, and impressed by the stories that they had heard concerning the siege of Orleans, the people of Troyes sued for peace, and swore obedience to Charles, while the foreign soldiers were allowed to leave. Joan’s success at Troyes also appears to have been helped by the preaching of a Franciscan monk, Brother Richard, who spread stories of her invincibility around the town, and whose apocalyptic preaching derives from the same strand of Joachite prophecy to which the Charlemagne prophecy belongs. It is also alleged that when Joan was first introduced to the dauphin Charles there were attempts to trick her into misidentifying him, nevertheless, she walked straight up to him in the crowded hall and made the accustomed salutations so well that one would think that she had been brought up at court.25 Like her military prowess, this knowledge of court manners further implies some training and preparation over and above that available to a simple shepherdess. And, if we take the tradition of the miraculous identification as fact, it surely suggests that Joan had had the dauphin carefully described to her. Robert le Maçon, who was mentioned earlier as having been responsible for asking Joan’s advice over the siege of Troyes, was one of Charles’s

Green_9781793613165.indb 57

15-04-2021 13:10:47

58

Chapter 4

oldest advisers. As is the case with Hémon Raguier, his presence at Charles’s court indicates that there still existed, surrounding Charles, some whose service extended back to the earliest days of his regency, before the period in which Isabeau had apparently become the creature of the English. Le Maçon had, at an earlier time, been Isabeau of Bavaria’s chancellor. Twelve years before, in April 1417, when Charles first became dauphin at the death of his elder brother John, and was residing with his mother at Vincennes, she had arranged for le Maçon to act as his chancellor as well as hers. At this juncture, the duke of Armagnac plotted to disgrace Isabeau fearing that she would set up her son Charles as the head of a government that was clearly royalist, and beholden to neither the Armagnacs nor the Burgundians.26 Bernard of Armagnac convinced Charles VI that his wife’s court was rife with scandal, implicating Pierre Giac, George de la Trémouïlle, and Louis of Bosredon in the scandalous behavior of the court.27 He had the last of these, who was the queen’s maître d’hôtel arrested and drowned, and Isabeau sent into exile, from whence she fled into the protection of the Burgundians. Le Maçon remained Charles’s chancellor, however, and in 1419, learning just before the interview on the bridge of Montereau of the plot to kill John the Fearless, it is alleged that he had tried to prevent the prince from going ahead with the murder.28 Ten years later we find him placing his trust in Joan, and calling her to Charles’s assembly to give her advice on the conduct of the campaign. Ayroles, who published a comprehensive five volumes of documents relating to Joan, and who is determined to defend her miraculous character against the distortions of free thinkers, makes a good deal of the fact that Joan was supernaturally infused with military prowess. He says that from the time she arrived at Chinon she showed that she understood the science of arms which she had never pursued and never been taught.29 But this kind of supernatural influence really is unbelievable. It seems far more likely that Joan had some instruction from some quarter. One of the sources that Ayroles quotes, an account of Joan’s life written by Giovanni Sabadino, claims that she strengthened herself by carrying around a large pole, and by hitting the trunks of trees. Sabadino got his information from Filento Tuvata, a merchant, who had himself been in contact with a couple of old soldiers who had been pages during Joan’s life.30 Ayroles dismisses this account, since it is in various ways inaccurate and not corroborated by the rehabilitation testimony of Joan’s companions. There are certainly mistakes in Sabadino’s version of Joan’s life, yet it can’t be simply dismissed. Just as Joan’s testimony at her trial has to be interpreted with care, the evidence offered at the rehabilitation about Joan’s early life cannot be treated uncritically. It was constrained by the formal procedure, which limited the witnesses’ testimony to responses to a list of prepared questions. Clearly it was not in Charles VII’s interest to uncover, at this stage, messy evidence

Green_9781793613165.indb 58

15-04-2021 13:10:47

Joan’s Testimony

59

that Joan was not quite what she had been made out to be. The rehabilitation therefore showed merely that she was a virtuous and orthodox Christian and not an agent of the devil. It did not attempt to do more than prove that the trial leading to her condemnation had been faulty. So, the rehabilitation testimony cannot be taken to be absolutely frank, and we have already seen that Pasquerel alluded to secrets that were not being revealed there. Sabadino’s account, based on hearsay evidence, freely offered, has a ring of authenticity and at least offers a plausible alternative to the miracle of supernaturally acquired physical prowess. Christine de Pizan was the author of a very well-respected manual of warfare, The Book of the Deeds of Arms and Chivalry (Le Livre des fais d’armes et de chevalrie).31 This book was copied and later printed in French and in English translation, often without its author being fully acknowledged.32 A version was presented to Margaret of Anjou when she married Henry VI, as part of a splendid volume put together by John Talbot as a wedding gift, in 1445.33 If any woman in France was in a position to teach Joan the art of warfare, it was Christine. And it seems that, unless the witnesses to Joan’s physical aptitude and military knowledge are lying, Joan must have had some instruction. By a curious coincidence, a number of later manuscripts of Christine’s military text are illuminated with an illustration that could well be taken as proposing that Christine taught Joan. At the beginning of her book, Christine excuses her impertinence in writing a book on military affairs by invoking the Goddess Minerva, who it was said had introduced armor to the world. This invocation was then illustrated by a scene in which Christine is shown in an interior writing, while Minerva, in armor, stands on the threshold with an army on horseback waiting for her outside. In a number of these manuscripts, and in particular one in the British Library from 1434, Minerva, a young woman with her hair cut short and wearing medieval armor, who carries a sword in one hand and a large shield in the other, uncannily evokes Joan.34 In this book, Christine describes how a soldier should be trained and hardened, and how swordcraft can be practiced using stakes fixed to the ground.35 She describes the different ways in which one can draw up an army, and the importance of the various machines of warfare used in sieges. She also makes much of the need for a commander to inspire confidence in his troops, and puts the following words into the mouth of a hypothetical leader: “So we have indeed good cause, fair lords, to attack with great courage . . . these people, I can assure you, for they are wrong and we are right, so God is with us.”36 Words such as these were spoken by Joan many times, so that one might almost wonder whether Christine wrote Joan’s script. Contemporary understanding of the reasons for France’s military defeats accepted that it was the sinfulness of her nobles and other citizens that was to blame. After the defeat at Agincourt, Henry V attributed his total victory,

Green_9781793613165.indb 59

15-04-2021 13:10:48

60

Chapter 4

with such small numbers over a far larger force, to God, who was bent on punishing the French for their sins.37 Christine had been warning since the beginning of the century that unless they learned to cultivate the virtues, the French princes would destroy France, as the Trojan folly had destroyed Troy. Charles of Orleans, writing in exile to the “Trescrestian, franc royaume de France!,” laments that she has been laid low by sin and calls on her to remember her war cry “Montjoye” and to return to her previous Christian peace. This is the message that Joan brings, with her insistence on her soldiers confessing before battle, her intolerance of lechery, and her faith in God’s intention of listening to the prayers of the French people. More than anything else, Joan understood the importance of the image of God’s endorsement of the king’s power. For this reason she led him to be crowned and anointed, evincing an appreciation of the importance of legitimacy, and the significance for the people of the manifestation of God’s favor.38 The psychological effect on troops of the belief in the justice of their mission is something that Christine emphasizes in her book on warfare, and it is something that Joan also understood very well. It was exactly this faith that the English were attempting to wipe out with their insistence that Joan was a fiend and a heretic. In this chapter we have seen that there are many reasons for thinking that the “voices” that Joan spoke of at her trial were the voices of real people who, as she said, taught her how to behave, and who were responsible for her understanding of military tactics and her capacity to joust. In chapter 5 this impression is reinforced by turning to a poem written in 1441, in which both Joan and Christine are praised. This poem states explicitly that Joan was trained and insinuates that this happened through the agency of some noblewomen. When I began my research on the connections between Christine and Joan I did not know the content of this work, The Ladies’ Champion, the complete text of which only became widely available in 1999.39 Reading it threw new light on the coincidental connection between Christine and Joan and suggested further avenues of research, to which we will now turn. NOTES 1. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 137–8, see also W. P. Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1931), 50, and W. S. Scott (ed.), The Trial of Joan of Arc: Being the Verbatim Report of the Proceedings from the Orleans Manuscript (London: The Folio Society, 1956), 63. 2. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:168–9. 3. Karen Sullivan, The Interrogation of Joan of Arc (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), pp. 24–5; “‘I Do Not Name to you the Voice of St. Michael’: The Identification of Joan of Arc’s Voices,” in Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood (New York: Garland, 1996), 85–111.

Green_9781793613165.indb 60

15-04-2021 13:10:48

Joan’s Testimony

61

Philippe Contamine draws the same conclusion with regard to the voice of Saint Michael in “Saint Michel au ciel de Jeanne dArc,” in Culte et Pèlerinages à Saint Michel en occident. Les trois monts dediés à l’Archange, ed. Pierre Bouet, Georgio Otrranto, and André Vauchez (Rome: École Française de Rome, 2003). 4. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 138; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 50; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 63. 5. Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 5 vols. (Paris: 1890–98), 4:233; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 317. 6. Quoted in Charles T. Wood, Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints and Government in the Middle Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), 151. 7. Ibid., 131. 8. See, Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 3:340: “Ex Nemore Canuto Puella eliminabitur ut medelæ curam adhibeant,” this prophecy was added to other lines from Merlin, see Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate, 63 note 36. 9. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 151; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 65; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 76. 10. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 140; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 54; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 66. 11. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 145; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 59; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 70. 12. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 144; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 57; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 69. 13. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 177–8; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 96; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 101. 14. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 143 and 182; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 56–7 and 103; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 68 and 106. 15. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 163; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 80; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 87. 16. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 172–3; Barrett, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 89–90; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 96–7. 17. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 2:20. 18. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 352. Similar skepticism was expressed by Jean Jouffroy, bishop of Arras, in 1459, quoted in Taylor, “Joan of Arc, the church, and the papacy,” 238 and Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 3:537–8. 19. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 3:90. 20. Ibid., 3:118. 21. Ibid., 3:86. 22. Auguste Vallet de Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle (Paris: Garnier Frères, 1859), 275; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:73. 23. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:75. 24. Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle, 278. 25. G. du Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 6 vols. (Paris: Librairie de la Societé Bibliographique, 1881–91), 2:207; Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle, 273–4.

Green_9781793613165.indb 61

15-04-2021 13:10:49

62

Chapter 4

26. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue, 177–9; Yann Grandeau, “Le Dauphin Jean duc de Touraine,” Bulletin Philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1968), 665–728. 27. Contamine, Charles VII, 134. 28. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue, 191. 29. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 4:466–7. 30. Ibid., 4:258–63. 31. Christine de Pizan, The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, translated by Sumner Willard (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999). 32. Cynthia Brown, “The Reconstruction of an Author in Print,” in Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference, edited by Marilynn Desmond (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 215–35. 33. Michel-André Bossy, “Arms and the Bride: Christine de Pizan’s Military Treatise as a Wedding Gift for Margaret of Anjou,” in Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference, edited by Marilynn Desmond (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 236–56. 34. This is also the case with the single illustration in Brussels KBR 10476, which is not noted in the duke of Burgundy’s library until 1467. For the image from London, BL Harley 4605, see Marilynn Desmond (ed.), Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998) 10 and front cover. 35. de Pizan, The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, 29–33. 36. Ibid., 62. 37. Enid McLeod, Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet (London: Chatto and Windus, 1969), 130. 38. Wood, Joan of Arc and Richard III, 140–1. 39. Martin le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, 5 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1999).

Green_9781793613165.indb 62

15-04-2021 13:10:49

Chapter 5

The Ladies’ Champion

What could the duchesses do Against their troublesome enemies, The queens and the princesses? What did the wise guys think, When a virgin just a while ago Without abundant worldly goods Shattered the strongest And suddenly brought death? I speak of that virgin Who delivered Orleans Where Salisbury lost his eye And then died badly. This she did, who recovered Thus, the honour of the French, She will have because of it Perpetual renown. You know how she learned To carry lances and armour, How by her enterprise The English were defeated, How from Bourges or Blois The King went under her friendship And a very great host of French Assembled before Paris, France.

63

Green_9781793613165.indb 63

15-04-2021 13:10:49

64

Chapter 5

Where she came from and why and how, You know well and want me to be quiet about it. But whoever in books or commentary Wants to recount her miracles, One has to say that it can’t be said That Joan lacked divine spirit Who did such things So spiritually enflamed.1

These verses serve to introduce Joan, in Martin le Franc’s 1441 defense of women: The Ladies’ Champion (Le Champion des Dames). Written ten years after she was burned, this poem was dedicated to Philip of Burgundy, and addresses him. So, we must assume that it is Philip who is meant when le Franc says, “You know how she learned to carry lances and armor” and “where she came from and why and how, you know well.” Because these facts are well known to Philip, le Franc does not expand on them. In asking as he does, “What could the duchesses, queens and princesses do against their troublesome enemies?,” le Franc hints at a conspiracy concocted by duchesses, queens, and princesses. Such a conspiracy, carried out by a group of noblewomen, frustrated at the continuing war, would be an act very much in accord with Christine’s prescriptions. And, as we will see, le Franc tells a story which makes Joan an important figure in a feminine quest for peace which stretched back to the beginning of the century. Even the title of le Franc’s poem is suggestive. The Ladies’ Champion is ambiguous, meaning both the one who champions the ladies (le Franc who defends them) and the champion who belongs to the ladies (Joan whom they provided). Le Franc’s poem strongly suggests that Joan was the ladies’ champion in the second sense, and that he is partly “championing the ladies” by attempting to have their part in recent history recorded and recognized. Martin le Franc originally came from Aumale in Normandy, a region which belonged to the house of Harcourt, staunch defenders of the dauphin, who were related by marriage to the Bourbons. Catherine de Bourbon, daughter of Jean VI, count of Harcourt, was one of Christine’s daughter’s companions in Poissy. Martin is thought to have been born around 1410 and was educated in Paris, at least partly by Thomas de Courcelles, rector of the University of Paris, and one of the theologians whom Pierre Cauchon entrusted with transcribing Joan’s trial into Latin. Courcelles was present for much of Joan’s trial and suggested torture as a means of extracting the truth from her. Le Franc calls him “my master” in his poem and cites him as one who supports the Immaculate Conception of Mary.2 Since le Franc had studied under Thomas de Courcelles, who seemed at the trial such a pliant follower of Cauchon, he might be expected to have accepted that Joan was

Green_9781793613165.indb 64

15-04-2021 13:10:49

The Ladies’ Champion

65

justly burned. But his poem, written fifteen years before the rehabilitation, already defends her against the charges for which she was condemned. Perhaps Courcelles was also doubtful about the trial that he had participated in, or perhaps there was a break between the master and his student. The fact that Courcelles later became a member of Charles VII’s court, and even read his funeral oration, suggests that the first surmise may be true. Already in 1435, at negotiations leading to the Treaty of Arras, where he had been sent as a representative of the people of Paris, Courcelles had preached on the message of Proverbs XII, 20: “Those who follow the councils of peace will have joy.” He later attempted to minimize the evidence for his participation in Joan’s trial, and so implicitly acknowledged some regret over his involvement.3 By 1443 le Franc had become provost of Lausanne in what is now Switzerland. This makes him seem at first something of a distant observer of Joan’s career. He was also provost of a town called Dommartin. There is a town of Dommartin only a few leagues away from Domremy, however the town of which le Franc was provost appears to be a rich prebend in Vaud.4 Soon after completing The Ladies’ Champion, le Franc was made secretary to Amadeus VIII of Savoy (1383–1451), who had been elected Pope Felix V at the Council of Basel in 1439. Amadeus had been married to Mary of Burgundy, Philip of Burgundy’s aunt. However, he was also connected to the Armagnacs. His mother, Bonne of Berry, had taken Bernard of Armagnac as a second husband. Going back at least to 1412, when he was instrumental in bringing about the peace of Auxerre, celebrated in Christine’s Book of Peace, he had been involved in numerous attempts to negotiate peace between the Armagnacs and Burgundians.5 In 1422, the Pope Martin V wrote to him, urging him to once again intervene to bring about peace between England, Burgundy, and France. The years between 1422 and 1429 saw him involved in a succession of initiatives designed to put in place truces that it was hoped would lead to a general peace.6 In December 1424, during a period when Arthur of Richmond (1393–1458) had recently joined forces with Charles and had been made constable of France, Amadeus VIII brought the constable together, at Bourg, with his brother, duke John V of Brittany, Philip of Burgundy, and, as representatives of Charles VII, Charles of Clermont and the archbishop of Reims, Regnault of Chartres.7 Richmond had recently cemented relations with Burgundy by becoming his brother-inlaw. In October 1423, at Dijon, he married Margaret of Burgundy, the widow of the deceased dauphin, Louis of Guyenne, with whom he had been good friends before Louis’s death in 1415.8 It was for the dauphin Louis and his wife Marguerite that, many years earlier, Christine had confected her twin manuals of royal behavior, the Book of the Body Politic and Book of the Three Virtues. In the latter, she encourages aristocratic women to intelligently

Green_9781793613165.indb 65

15-04-2021 13:10:50

66

Chapter 5

mediate between antagonistic men, in order to maintain or establish peace, a role that Marguarite was now well placed to play. The dauphin Charles’s mother-in-law, Yolande of Aragon, had been intimately involved in these peace negotiations. In June 1423, she had received secret letters from Burgundy, and in May 1424, at Nantes, clauses for a peace conference were negotiated between Yolande and the duke of Brittany. Another marriage promised to strengthen the relationships between the branches of the royal house of France. In 1424, Philip of Burgundy received a dispensation to marry Bonne of Artois, who was the widow of Philip’s uncle, and Mary of Berry’s daughter by her first marriage to the count of Eu.9 Further conferences were held during 1425 at Saint-Laurent-lès-Mâcon and Montleul, and were attended by Louis of Vendôme and Martin Gouges, but these negotiations ultimately foundered, perhaps because the demands made by Burgundy were too onerous, or because the time was not yet ripe.10 Most controversially, it was at least partly by means of Amadeus’ agency that two temporary truces were signed not long after Charles VII’s coronation at Reims. The first, to run from the August 28 until Christmas, excluded Paris. The next was signed on October 14, after Joan’s unsuccessful attempt to take Paris on the eve of the feast of the Virgin’s nativity during September.11 These truces have been represented as frustrating to Joan, and as evidence of Charles’s weakness. But their ultimate aim was, as was Joan’s, to establish the peace. The truces were signed with the intention that, if the English were not prepared to give up the war, a peace should be established between France and Burgundy that would allow for the ousting of the English. The earliest manuscript of le Franc’s poem was executed in Savoy, so it can be taken to represent events from a Savoyard perspective and thus to illuminate the way in which the event of Joan’s victories appeared to a group who had for many decades been attempting to institute peace between the French nobles.12 Savoyard family connections straddled the divide between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs. Not only had Bonne of Berry, the older sister of Mary of Berry, had been married to Bernard of Armagnac leader of the Armagnac faction until his death in Paris in 1418, connections with the Orleans faction were strengthened when a contract of marriage between her daughter, Bonne and Charles of Orleans was drawn up on April 18, 1410. Bonne was then just eleven years old, while Charles was already a father at sixteen.13 Since he had become a prisoner in 1414, Bonne had seen little of her husband and her activities during this period are obscure. However, these relationships demonstrate that le Franc was allied with a family that had connections on both sides of the civil war and would have been well aware the way things looked from both sides of the conflict that had rent France apart. At one level le Franc’s work is a defense of women against the slanders of men, and it continues an earlier debate, initiated by Christine, over the

Green_9781793613165.indb 66

15-04-2021 13:10:50

The Ladies’ Champion

67

Figure 5.1  The Castle of Love, Le Champion des Dames. Source: BnF, fr. 12476, f. 3v, © BnF.

appropriateness of the way women are represented by Jean de Meun in his Romance of the Rose, a highly popular poem from the thirteenth century. Its introductory illumination shows a group of noblewomen defending a castle, evoking earlier images of the allegorical city constructed by Christine, in the Book of the City of Ladies (figure 5.1, see also figure 2.2). It is as a contribution to this debate that le Franc’s poem has generally been discussed. An exchange of letters was provoked in 1402, when Christine criticized a favorable discussion of de Meun’s poem by the humanist Jean Montreuil. These were then included in all of the manuscripts of Christine’s collected works compiled between 1402 and 1414, from the earliest (Chantilly, Bibl. Du Château 492), now thought to have been presented to Isabeau of Bavaria, to the deluxe queen’s manuscript, Harley MS 4431 later confected for the same queen.14 Valentina Visconti, the wife of Louis of Orleans and Guillaume de Tignonville, the provost of Paris were also

Green_9781793613165.indb 67

15-04-2021 13:10:51

68

Chapter 5

recipients of this collection of letters. As well as referring back to this debate, many features of le Franc’s poem are reminiscent of Christine’s works and structural features of his poem show that her Book of the City of Ladies was a source for him. At a superficial level the poem is simply a continuation of Christine’s earlier defense of women. At another level, this is an account of the establishment of peace between Charles and Philip of Burgundy. It forges an intimate connection between the defense of women, the defense of love, and the peace brought about by the Treaty of Arras in 1435. Le Franc was at the meeting where this treaty was hammered out, as was his master Thomas of Courcelles, as well as Louis of Vendôme, Jean de Mailly, bishop of Noyon and many others.15 At Arras, through the mediation of the pope’s legates, Burgundy gave up his support for the English king’s claim to the French throne, and accepted that Charles VII was the legitimate King of France. So, an important part of Joan’s mission was then achieved. By interleaving the achievements of the Congress of Arras with his defense of women, and by including in his poem strong praise for both Joan and Christine, le Franc ensures that the role these women had played in bringing about the peace would not be forgotten. When le Franc’s poem was presented to Philip, duke of Burgundy, a little after 1441, it was not particularly well appreciated, and in about 1451 the author wrote a complaint in which his poem comes to him in a dream. It laments the fact that it had been left alone gathering dust, because some had spoken against it and thought that it should be burned.16 The poem had been accused of containing treasonable material, and covert praise, and so had not been given the airing it deserved. In the complaint le Franc suggests that Isabella of Portugal, the duke’s wife, and Jean de Créquy, her knight of honor, will support his poem. “In her palace,” he says, “where one sees flying white headdresses like knightly helmets, the poem should not fear taunts, for Isabella wishes renown to be bestowed on those who merit it.”17 He consoles his poem, assuring it that it was not made for immediate praise and that its virtues would be appreciated in the future. Some of the treasonable thoughts contained in this poem may relate to the defense of the views of the Council of Basel, that le Franc puts into the mouth of the Sainte Eglise. But this does not fully explain what the envious detractors do not like in the poem, which has to do with those who have been praised both openly and covertly.18 Le Franc’s comment that Isabella supports his poem and wishes to see renown bestowed on those who merit it suggests that it is the renown of the women he explicitly praises, Joan and Christine, as well as the unnamed women hinted at in his comments about queens and duchesses, that contributes to the treasonable material. Pursuing the explicit intentions of his poem, le Franc provides a synopsis of all the arguments for and against women and love that are to be found in

Green_9781793613165.indb 68

15-04-2021 13:10:51

The Ladies’ Champion

69

his sources. “Malebouche” has slandered women. Their champion, “Franc Vouloir,” undertakes to defend them. In the first book, Venus, the goddess of erotic love, is carefully distinguished from the love that is celebrated by Franc Vouloir. Venus leads to corruption, while the true love allied to the defense of women leads to peace. Like Christine earlier, Martin warns against the dangers of Venus, but extols a pure chivalric love.19 Even in the first stanzas, the battle that women are called to join against “Malebouche” their slanderer is described in terms which evoke both Christine’s works and the political events of the past years. The God of Love, to whom Christine had complained about men’s lack of loyalty in 1398 and his herald “Bouche d’or” come to the castle of ladies to defend them. Love is dressed in marvelous robes decorated with all manner of living creatures, and surrounded by peace, prudence, justice, force, temperance, truth, and loyalty, all virtues that Christine had unflaggingly endorsed in her writings. She had promoted the same message in her Book of Peace, which had been written to instruct Charles VII’s brother, Louis of Guyenne in the principles of good government, by means of promoting the exercise of the virtues of prudence, justice, magnanimity, force, clemency, liberality and truth.20 In le Franc’s poem, Franc Vouloir next enters the scene, mounted on the fire-breathing steed Ardent Desire. He is warned by Reason to bridle his horse, which needs to be carefully handled, for it carried Paris, when he embarked on the foolish rape of Helen, that led to the disasters of Troy. Here, like Christine, in her Othea, le Franc draws an analogy between the Trojan wars and the recent conflicts in France. At this point le Franc also weaves into his account an event from the contemporary wars, by suggesting that this was also the steed that Philip of Burgundy was riding at Saint Riquier. This was an engagement that took place on the August 31, 1421, when the Burgundians faced the supporters of the dauphin, headed by the lord of Offremont and Poton de Saintrailles outside Saint Riquier in Normandy. Here John of Luxembourg knighted the duke of Burgundy. On the French side Renault de Fontaines and Gilles de Gamaches were also knighted.21 This battle did not all go the duke of Burgundy’s way, and a good part of his force fled to Abbeville, however, ultimately the dauphin’s supporters were defeated, and Poton de Saintrailles, Louis d’Offremont, Gilles and Louis de Gamaches, Renault de Fontaines, and numerous others were taken prisoner. It is not entirely clear why le Franc chose to remind his readers of this particular incident. Perhaps, since he came from Normandy, it had loomed large in his experience as a child. Or perhaps he intended to remind the duke of how lucky he had been on this former occasion, when youthful exuberance had led him to engage in a battle that he might well have lost. Perhaps also, le Franc is alluding to an incident that was to have important consequences for the future peace. For Monstrelet says

Green_9781793613165.indb 69

15-04-2021 13:10:52

70

Chapter 5

that, “By his moderation in their ransoms, [the duke of Burgundy] gained over all the captains of the Dauphinois who had been made his prisoners, and sent them to his castle of Lille, where they remained a considerable time.”22 Armed by reason, prudence, temperance, force, and justice, Franc Vouloir is made ready to enter the lists against Malebouche, whom he overcomes in spite of the terrible horse that Malebouche rides, which was raised in the realm of Trickery, by the stallion Fury, out of Hot Anger. As he is ready to go out into the lists, Franc Vouloir names a number of gentlemen who have come to serve him, and who will be sad if he comes to harm. These are Crouy (Croy), Saint Pol “au bastart amoureux,” Crèvecœur, Ternant and Charny. Once again, he is clearly alluding to recent political events, for this is a group within Philip’s court who had played an important role in the negotiations at Arras. Antoine de Croy, Pierre de Bauffremont, lord of Charny, and Jacques de Crèvecœur were among those rewarded by Charles VII on July 6, 1435 for the part they had played in the peace negotiations at Arras.23 At least two of those named were also married to ladies who served Isabella of Portugal.24 After this successful joust, the company returns to the castle to celebrate, while the narrator is taken by his guide, Valentin, to see the castle of Venus, its joys and its dangers. Having left the chapel of Venus and the domain of her son Cupid, the narrator is led to the chapel of love. On either side of its door is written, “Love God with your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Lady Charity is the presiding abbess, and she entreats them to love God, the king, the dauphin, dukes and princes. Those who have read de Pizan’s Othea will be struck by the fact that Penthesilea, the Amazon queen who avenged Hector’s death represents the third theological virtue of Charity.25 Le Franc’s Abbess Charity, who supports the dauphin and peace among the princes sounds in her aims like Joan, and for readers of Othea this echo would be enhanced by the fact that Charity is also Penthesilea, a warrior virgin. The association may seem to be lessened by the fact that in le Franc’s poem Charity is dressed as a beguine. Yet, according to the Morosini Chronicle, a contemporary set of letters written from Burgundy and sent to Italy, Joan was in fact a beguine.26 We will discuss this possibility in a later chapter. Morosini may be mistaken in his claim, but his report shows that Joan was at least believed by well-informed people at this time to have been a beguine.27 Perhaps it will be doubted that Martin le Franc could have expected his audience to pick up such a subtle allusion to Christine’s Penthesilea/ Charity. Yet, Mary of Berry’s descendants, Charles of Orleans, and Agnes of Burgundy all owned autograph copies and even Henry IV of England had been presented with one, for this was Christine’s most widely copied and translated work.28 The identification of Joan with Penthesilea subsequently became well established, as can be seen from numerous early sixteenthcentury accounts of her activities, including The Ship of Ladies (La nef des

Green_9781793613165.indb 70

15-04-2021 13:10:52

The Ladies’ Champion

71

Dames), written by Symphorien Champier and dedicated in 1503 to Anne of France, and in a later edition of 1515 to her daughter Suzanne of Bourbon. Champier explains how Joan came from Lorraine, “semi-miraculously” (quasimiraculeusement), to aid the king, and why people first of all compare her to Penthesilea.29 Just as Penthesilea went valiantly to the aid of the Trojans and then died, so too Joan went valiantly to the aid of the French and then was captured and died. Not only does this text attest to the fact that the comparison between Joan and Penthesilea was common, it also shows that, in the early sixteenth century, people who were close to the court, and whom we have every reason to believe had access to the truth, did not think Joan’s origins to have been miraculous so much as “semi-miraculous.” Symphorien Champier was counselor and prime-minister to Anthoine duke of Lorraine, great-grandson of Charles VII’s brother-in-law René of Anjou, who was duke of Bar. Joan’s home village was on the border between Lorraine and Bar, and before leaving for France she had visited René’s father-in-law to ask him to send René to support the dauphin. He did not join her campaign, however, until later. Symphorien dedicated various works to Charles VII’s grand-daughter Anne of France. In The Ship of Ladies, he places Joan among a group of illustrious women “of whom one reads nothing of their sanctification.” So, sixty years after her death, Joan was remembered as a new Penthesilea, but she was not thought of as saintly and her appearance was acknowledged by the descendants of those who had fought with her as at best “semi-miraculous.” The following verses of le Franc’s poem introduce a group of important personages who enter the chapel of love. Their appearance connects the battle of women against their slanderers with the political negotiations of the period. For these are some of the people that the author had seen at Arras in 1435, when peace was established between Charles VII and the duke of Burgundy. The king’s ambassadors and those of the duke of Burgundy enter and present two hearts of ruby. The ambassadors named are, first, Charles duke of Bourbon (who had been count of Clermont during Joan’s campaigns) and who had married Philip of Burgundy’s sister Agnes in 1425. This marriage demonstrates how behind the scenes negotiations conducted by women helped restore peace. It had first been promised while John the Fearless was still alive. The fact that it went ahead, even after his murder, was due to the initiative of Philip of Burgundy’s wife, who at this period was Charles VII’s sister, Michelle. On May 22, 1422, she wrote to Mary of Berry proposing a date for this union. Although Michelle herself died on July 8, 1422, negotiations continued during the next few years, culminating in a marriage reconciling these two branches of the royal family.30 Next, mentioned is Arthur Count of Richemont, married to another of Philip’s sisters, Marguerite, Louis of Guyenne’s widow. Also named are

Green_9781793613165.indb 71

15-04-2021 13:10:53

72

Chapter 5

Christopher Harcourt, the bishop of Liège and the counts of Nevers and of Estampes.31 Christopher Harcourt’s sister was a nun at Poissy, mentioned by Christine in her Tale of Poissy, while the last two named were the sons of Mary of Berry’s daughter, Bonne of Artois, from her marriage to Philip of Burgundy’s deceased uncle Philip. For a short time in the 1420s during a period when Amadeus’ peace negotiations were progressing well, Bonne had been Philip’s second wife. Also named as present are the duke of Cleves (Philip’s brother-in-law, Adolphe whose daughter would marry Charles of Orleans as part of the conditions of peace) and the duke of Guerles. Adam of Cambrai, a member of Charles’s embassy, and president of his parliament at Poitiers, then sermonizes on the importance of love in the establishment of peace. Isabella of Portugal enters the scene as the one praised for having brought the two “coeurs” together, The text plays on the homophony of “cours” and “coeurs” (courts and hearts). In the illuminated version a red ♥ is used instead of the word “coeur” in these verses (see figure 5.2). In the last verse of the section Isabella is credited with having brought the horrible war to an end.32 The duke of Burgundy had been married to Isabella, daughter of the King of Portugal, on January 9, 1430 (1429 old style) in Bruges.33 Philip celebrated this marriage with greater pomp than accompanied either of his two previous marriages. The streets of Bruges were hung with rich cloths and tapestries. Fountains in the shape of unicorns and other beasts spewed rose-water and wine. The feasting went on for eight days. There were jousts and plays, and the guests at the wedding dressed themselves and their retinues in matching liveries, changing the color of their clothes every day. Present at the wedding ceremony were another of Philip’s sisters, Anne duchess of Bedford, wife of the duke of Bedford, Henry VI’s regent in France, the duchess of Cleves (another of Philip’s sisters, married to Adolphe), and the countesses of Namur, Lielse, Conversan, as well as John of Luxembourg with the lady of Beaurevoir.34 The “lady of Beaurevoir” has been identified as the wife of John of Luxembourg, who had held Joan captive after her capture at Compiègne, and ransomed her to the English.35 She would be one of the women Joan would meet during her period of captivity and who, it is believed, attempted to preserve her from the English. One could speculate at length on the conversation at this wedding, which took place when Joan’s fame was at its height: the discussion of Joan and her mission, the interest that these women must have had in this rare phenomenon; the question of whether the path of reconciliation with Charles should be followed, and whether a long and strong peace, should be established, as Joan had proposed in her letter to Philip, or whether the English cause should be prosecuted. If le Franc is to be believed, Isabella of Portugal would have been for peace, though perhaps so early in her engagement in the affairs of

Green_9781793613165.indb 72

15-04-2021 13:10:53

The Ladies’ Champion

73

Figure 5.2  The Cemetery of Love, Le Champion des dames. Source: BnF, fr. 12476, f. 15r, © BnF.

France she would have withheld judgment. It appears that, on her way to be married, bad weather had forced (or enabled) her to pay a visit to England, where she may have made the first contacts with her English relatives, with whom she would later to sue for peace.36 We know that Isabella came to be an admirer of Christine de Pizan, and that it was in all probability she who sent a copy of the Book of the Three Virtues to a niece in Portugal, which was later translated into Portuguese.37 She was already interested in Christine’s works in 1430 to 1431, when,

Green_9781793613165.indb 73

15-04-2021 13:10:54

74

Chapter 5

among other works, she purchased a copy of this book.38 In many ways she led her life just as the virtuous princess of Christine’s text should. In the first part of her book of advice to women, Christine had explained how the good princess would make every effort to maintain and restore peace. “Bearing in mind the great evils and infinite cruelties, destruction, massacres and detriment to the country that result from war . . . she will ponder long and hard whether she can do something . . . to prevent this war. In this cause she will wish to work and labour carefully, calling God to her aid, and by good counsel she will do whatever she can do to find a way of peace.”39 There Christine recalls the “how many great blessings in the world have often been caused by queens and princesses making peace between enemies, between princes and barons and between the rebellious people and their lords! The Scriptures are full of such examples.” She concludes that the works of such a princess “are not without charity, but rather they are so meritorious that a greater good cannot be done”.40 While this was an epoch in which many thought that the spiritual life of the cloistered nun was the greatest expression of charity, Christine wrote to reassure women that the life of active virtue was also worthy and charitable. Isabella of Portugal was well placed to follow this advice and bring together the English and French, for her grandfather was John of Gaunt. Her mother, Philippa of Lancaster, was therefore English.41 A large number of Christine’s texts were to be found in her husband Burgundy’s library, including, apparently, a volume of collected works containing the Othea that has not survived.42 Like the virtuous princess of Christine’s text, Isabella worked steadily from the beginning of her marriage to promote treaties and peace between the warring parties. Philip and Isabella spent Easter of 1435 in Paris, where the University, tired of the continual burdens of war, spoke to Philip on the subject of peace. On the Wednesday after Easter the women of noble and citizenship rank went to Isabella and begged her to take the kingdom’s peace under her protection. She replied. “My dear friends, it is one of the things I most long for in this world and that I beg of my lord both night and day, because I can see how greatly it is needed; and I know for certain that my lord is more than willing to risk both his goods and his body for it.” Soon after these audiences the Burgundian court left Paris for Arras where the successful peace conference began on July 1.43 There is further evidence that Isabella of Portugal was in good measure responsible for the peace at Arras, as le Franc claimed.44 Charles VII clearly acknowledged her role. He had, it is true, also facilitated the process with the payments to Philip’s counselors mentioned above, though given the fact that these were people named as supporting Franc Vouloir, Charles may have simply been rewarding those who were already well disposed toward the ladies and peace.45 But before going on to consider Isabella’s role, it is worth

Green_9781793613165.indb 74

15-04-2021 13:10:55

The Ladies’ Champion

75

noting the other women who are praised by le Franc along with her. Around the chapel of love there is a cemetery. In the illuminated version of the text the accompanying picture shows that here are buried Mary of Burgundy, Bonne of Montfort, Anne of Burgundy, Christine de Pizan and “la belle dame sans merci” (figure 5.2). Why, one might ask, are these five placed together and praised as virtuous servants of love? One obvious explanation is that three of them are close relatives of Philip, duke of Burgundy. Anne is his sister, Mary his aunt, sister to John the Fearless, and Bonne her daughter. Mary was, until her death in 1434, married to Amadeus VIII, so le Franc has particular reasons for including her. Christine and “la belle dame sans merci” are rather stranger occupants of what seems like a Burgundian family cemetery. “La belle dame sans merci” is here depicted as buried in a tomb of crystal, “her loyal heart still constant.” The mention of this “belle dame” evokes a poem of this name and implies a reference to its author Alain Chartier and a historical court of love, already implicitly evoked in the opening verses of le Franc’s poem. Alain Chartier and the court of love will be the subject of a later chapter. That discussion will also help clarify the allusion to Christine. For, although her tomb is clearly depicted in the miniature illustrating this passage, Christine is not explicitly described at this point, for this one must read further. Here, the duchess Anne of Burgundy, Philip’s sister, is fulsomely praised, but it is suggested that her marriage to Bedford was something that should not have been. Dissension had brought about strange things, joining weak and strong and turning monasteries into shelters.46 This reference to monasteries as shelters is possibly an oblique reference to Christine, since she spent the years 1418 to 1429 sheltering in an abbey. If she was already implicitly referred to in the text at this point, the illumination in the later manuscript can be explained as making this explicit. The other comment may be hindsight. After the death of Anne in 1432, relations between Bedford and the duke of Burgundy cooled. In 1433, Bedford married Jacquette of Luxembourg, without consulting Philip. She was the eldest daughter of Pierre of Luxembourg, count of Saint Pol and the niece of John of Luxembourg, who had held Joan prisoner for many months before selling her to the English to be tried.47 Then on September 13, 1435, Bedford died. This was just one week before the Treaty of Arras was signed between the French and Burgundians. Three days later in Paris, Isabeau of Bavaria also died. From the point of view of the friendship that was then officially established between France and Burgundy, the past marriage of Anne and Bedford must have been something of an embarrassment. Not long before le Franc’s poem was completed, during the month of January 1440 (1439 old style), Isabella of Portugal had met the Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester and cardinal of England, near the Chateau

Green_9781793613165.indb 75

15-04-2021 13:10:55

76

Chapter 5

d’Oye about half way between Calais and Gravelines, in order “to consider the means for establishing a firm peace between England and France.”48 A particular subject of this meeting was the deliverance of Charles of Orleans, still a prisoner of the English after twenty-five years. In June, Charles was allowed by his captors to cross to Calais, where he met and spoke with the French ambassadors: his half brother, Dunois, the archbishop of Reims, and Louis of Vendôme.49 He was disappointed not to be allowed to attend the peace negotiations held once more at the Chateau d’Oye: The English had come thither in great pomp, and magnificently dressed; but the cardinal of Winchester outshone all in the splendour of his tents and pavilions, and the richness of his gold and silver plate, and in all other necessaries and luxuries. He nobly feasted the duchess of Burgundy, his fair niece, before they all separated.50

Finally, in November 1440 these overtures bore fruit. Charles of Orleans was released. He cemented his intention of settling his family differences with Burgundy by marrying Burgundy’s niece Mary, sixth daughter of the duke of Cleves. Charles of Orleans, like Charles VII, also acknowledged his indebtedness to Isabella for this turn of events.51 In April 1441, Isabella of Portugal was again acting as an ambassador on her husband’s behalf, this time visiting Charles VII at Laon.52 As we have seen, Joan included in her mission the release of Charles of Orleans, and it is a noteworthy coincidence that this poem, which defends her, is written at the culmination of the reconciliation between Orleans and Burgundy. She had delivered his major town from the English, and his council at Blois had rewarded her with clothes in his livery. Her condemnation was therefore, in part, an insult to him and his supporters. A poem rehabilitating her reputation could well have been the result of the general reconciliation effected in 1440, when Burgundy and Orleans agreed to bury the differences that had split their families. Charles’s love poetry is recommended by le Franc, as something that should be read or listened to.53 It is interesting to note also, that one of only four contemporary manuscripts of le Franc’s poem to still exist belonged to Adolph duke of Cleves, the father of Philip’s niece Mary, who married Charles of Orleans in order to seal the peace between the families.54 This too suggests that the poem was written as a contribution to the process of healing past rifts. Significantly, the later manuscript of le Franc’s poem coincides with a period when moves were being made toward setting up Joan’s rehabilitation. The second and third books of le Franc’s poem recapitulate much of the traditional medieval debate over the status of women.55 In Book II, Vilain Penser takes over the attack from Malebouche, citing Eve’s sin as evidence

Green_9781793613165.indb 76

15-04-2021 13:10:55

The Ladies’ Champion

77

for woman’s physical and moral inferiority. Franc Vouloir’s defense covers the same ground as Christine’s earlier reply to these accusations. He adds, however, the observation that the physical weakness of women is the result of custom and education, as can be seen by comparing city women to those “raised in the fields.”56 He also cites Plato’s scheme for female guardians, as set out in the Republic, as an authority in favor of women’s education and active involvement in public affairs, and even bearing arms if they wish.57 By contrast, Christine, writing thirty-five years earlier, showed no familiarity with these Platonic proposals. Franc Vouloir also suggests that if women had been allowed to govern France they would have prevented the corruption which led to the lily of France being wounded and its branches rent asunder.58 This is a thought that he will return to in the fourth book, just after his praise for Joan, in a passage in which he first wishes that the princes of France had shown the kind of courage Joan had displayed, and then goes on to say that he would have liked women to have governed, for they would have had pity on the poor people destroyed by war.59 Indeed, it is literally true that, had women been allowed to inherit in France, the Hundred Years’ War would not have occurred. For in 1316, it was in order to provide a post hoc justification for the disinheritance, by her uncle Philip V, of Jeanne, the daughter of Louis X, that the doctrine that women could not inherit in France was developed. Later attempts of legitimation appealed to a tendentious reading of the Salic law, amounting to a forgery.60 The fact that it was the disinheritance of a series of women that lay behind the Hundred Years’ War throws a new light on the prophecy associated with Joan, that the realm lost by a women would be redeemed by a women. This has been read as referring to Isabeau of Bavaria, but le Franc’s lament suggests rather, that had women but been allowed to rule by right of inheritance, the events which had torn France asunder would simply not have occurred. The debate that le Franc sets up passes over much ground familiar from Christine’s writing and earlier defenses of women. Vilain Penser recalls all the evil and treacherous women from past histories and then, echoing the Romance of the Rose rehearses traditional arguments against marriage, and in favor of woman’s lechery and duplicity. The last half of the second book contains le Franc’s reply to this traditional depiction. Dame Nature and later Dame Sainte Eglise both appear and make the point that it is men who have the power to do great evil in the world. Nature complains of men’s violence toward her, and points out that is men who “make and move hosts and armies to the discomfort of love” and Nature’s well-loved women.61 Sainte Eglise complains of the heresies that men foment, and of the way in which princes divide her for political reasons, rather than following her commandments. She upholds the right of the church to depose a heretical pope, thus showing

Green_9781793613165.indb 77

15-04-2021 13:10:55

78

Chapter 5

her approval of the attitudes of the members of the Council of Basel and of the Conciliar Movement in general, which was in opposition to the unbridled authority of the pope. The second book ends with a discussion of loyal and treacherous women, Franc Vouloir arguing that for every evil woman, one can find a more evil man. He concludes that it is men who are ribald and who, instead of spending their days working for the public good, are to be found sneaking out of the house at night to waste their substance at the baths, drinking, and eating to excess. And he calls on them to attend the school of wisdom and avoid luxury and laziness. The third book of le Franc’s poem debates the difference between love and Venus, and returns to a theme developed by Christine in her Debate of Two Lovers (Livre du Debat de deux amams) according to which love is only bitter to those who mistake its nature and do not love wisely and with reason.62 It is in this third book that le Franc’s continuation of the debate over the Romance of the Rose is most explicit. Here, the political themes that were so evident in the first book are left in the background, but they continue to be occasionally evoked, as in the introductory image of the Champion jumping to defend his proposals, as though he were La Hire seeing the English coming.63 La Hire having been one of the most important military leaders in Joan’s campaigns, this metaphor is one of the ways in which he connects this defense of women and true love with Joan. It is Book IV of The Ladies’ Champion, which praises Joan and then Christine in close succession. Here Franc Vouloir argues against Court Entendement (slow wits). Le Franc begins the discussion by suggesting that just as now that Pontoise has been taken, and Charles can see his way to victory in Normandy, so he, Franc Vouloir has almost won his battle for women.64 He begins an account, highly reminiscent of both the Book of the City of Ladies, and of Boccaccio’s earlier Concerning Notable Women, from which many of the stories in Christine’s text were drawn, of the great women to whom men are beholden. First comes Ceres, originator of agriculture, then he goes on to Isis, where his account is closer to Christine’s than to Boccaccio’s. But, unlike his predecessors, le Franc offers us the other side of the story. These are fables, says the opposition, written by poets from benighted times before Christian enlightenment. And in any case, has not the growth of agriculture itself led to a multitude of sins, drunkenness, luxury, avarice, and so on?65 Franc Vouloir answers with a long digression intended to demonstrate that things are getting better, rather than worse. He then returns to his subject, which is to show how women have achieved honor and glory in worldly government.66 He tells the story of Semiramis, and then moves on to the Amazon Thamaris. Next he briefly mentions Marthese and Lampede and Orithia: Amazon leaders whose story is recounted at much greater length

Green_9781793613165.indb 78

15-04-2021 13:10:56

The Ladies’ Champion

79

in the Book of the City of Ladies. Antiopé, Menalippe and Ypolité are then mentioned in passing, and we come to the story of Penthesilea. The history of these Amazons takes up four chapters of Christine’s defense of women; le Franc evokes their story in thirteen stanzas.67 Penthesilea is dealt with in greater length. Le Franc briefly evokes her story and concentrates on her prowess, suggesting that if the Rouenais had only had her to defend them against the cruel English besiegers in 1419, they would not have been reduced to eating horses, cats, and rats.68 He ends his evocation of the feats of the Amazons mentioning by Thalestre, whom Christine had not mentioned by name. The adversary then criticizes the cruelty of the Amazons, the un-naturalness of their refusal to take husbands and the fact that they killed their sons. The champion defends them, suggesting that in those times it was necessary for women to take to battle in order to combat the abuses and pride of men.69 Thus he both echoes Christine’s Prison of Human Life, which had evoked the possibility that, in extreme times, one might expect the appearance of a figure like Judith or Deborah, and he anticipates a thought that he will return to later, in his defense of Joan. Seventeen stanzas separate le Franc’s account of the worldly prowess of the Amazons and his account of Joan’s feats. In these he mentions Artemisia, Camille, Berenice, Ysicrathee (Hypsicratea), Zenobia, Deborah, Jabel and Judith.70 Apart from the second last, Jabel, the stories of each of these women is told in greater length in the Book of the City of Ladies, and in the same order that le Franc deals with them. The interposition of these stories may seem to put some distance between Joan and the Amazons, but in the 1451 illuminated manuscript of le Franc’s poem, the image of Joan paired with Judith, reproduced in chapter 4 (figure 4.1) is found on f. 101v and follows hard on the heels of a series of illuminations of warrior women which begins with Semiramis at f. 98v. This enhances the connection between Joan and the Amazon heroines lauded in Christine’s text. As we will see when we come to discuss the prophecies that surrounded Joan, these images also echo the arguments used to promote Joan when she first appeared. Le Franc’s praise of Joan is preceded by the stories of Deborah and Judith, reinvoking the examples of Deborah, Judith and Esther which were repeatedly used by Joan’s supporters in order to justify accepting the possibility that a woman could be sent by God to save her people. Le Franc’s treatment of Joan will be quoted below, but before giving an account of it, it is worth mentioning an odd footnote to the poem which provides another link between those involved in the saga of Joan and those interested in the works of Christine de Pizan. As was mentioned above, a rather elaborate manuscript of The Ladies’ Champion from 1451 includes a complaint in which le Franc appealed to Jean de Créquy and Isabella of Portugal for support of his poem.71 Jean de Créquy had some reason to be

Green_9781793613165.indb 79

15-04-2021 13:10:56

80

Chapter 5

interested in Joan. He had been present at her capture at Compiègne, where he was wounded in the face. Given his wound he most probably did not go with Philip to see her after her capture, nor hear the words that Philip of Burgundy uttered to her, which Monstrelet, although he was present, so oddly managed to forget.72 Since Créquy’s wife, Louise de la Tour was the sister of Gabrielle de la Tour, wife of Mary of Berry’s son, Louis of Montpensier, he was in a good position to know the truth about Joan’s mission and the history behind her appearance.73 Jean of Créquy had a copy of Christine’s Book of Peace in his library, one of only three existing manuscripts of this work.74 It had been dedicated to the dauphin, Louis, in the years 1412 to 1414 and celebrated two moments which promised an end to the civil conflict. Charity Cannon Willard, who wrote a discussion of this manuscript after it had appeared at auction, expressed some surprise at Créquy’s interest in this work. There are two reasons for thinking that this is not really so surprising. First, his wife, Louise de la Tour might well have shared her sister Gabrielle’s interest in Christine. Nor is it surprising if we take into account that Créquy had been Isabella’s knight of honor in her attempts to bring about peace, and if we take le Franc’s poem as background. If the women of France had placed their hope in a new Judith, whose mission was to restore peace, and if they had been inspired in doing so by the vision outlined in Christine’s works, then a desire to possess this manuscript would be entirely comprehensible. There is an interesting connection between the beginning of Christine’s Book of Peace and the promise of political peace and renewal that ultimately came to fruition with Joan’s successes. As early as 1414 Christine had evoked the theme of divine inspiration, which occurs in the Ditié, in order to encourage Louis of Guyenne to continue with his efforts to bring peace to France. In the earlier work she described the young Louis as having been inspired by a miracle. Later it is Joan whose appearance is miraculous. Her earlier use of such language should alert us to the fact that medieval authors were quick to see the miraculous intervention of God at work, and we should be somewhat skeptical about taking claims of such miraculous interventions too literally. Speaking of the events which preceded the peace of Auxerre, Christine calls Louis of Guyenne’s intervention a miracle, brought about by God’s intervention, and exclaims: O, child born in a propitious hour! May you be forever blessed in heaven and on earth, for skillfully achieving so great a work, which everyone thought impossible! The initiative, of course, came not from you, but from one without whose protection watching over the city is in vain. On the eve of Saint John the Baptist in this year 1412, as I have been reliably informed, you, on hearing in the mass the passage of the gospel that says of Saint John “and many will rejoice at his

Green_9781793613165.indb 80

15-04-2021 13:10:57

81

The Ladies’ Champion

birth,”75 turned with joyful countenance, as if suddenly inspired, and said to your confessor: “O, please God that on this glorious day we might be able to bring together in peace and joy those two Johns who are enemies!”76 That is to say, John, Duke of Berry and John, Duke of Burgundy. “But,” you said, “so that henceforth a firm agreement might be negotiated, mediated, and sealed between them with God’s help, it is fitting that a fine solemn mass be said tomorrow in the chapel of Saint John near here, to which they both have great devotion.” O noble prince, the advent of this peace has been a miracle—considering the many impediments and squabbles. You were with the King your father, in the midst of a great army marshaled before Bourges (where peace was only mentioned in order to deride it!) when the idea came to you; and since then you have argued tirelessly for peace, against all resistance. Though all things come from God, praise is nonetheless due to you, since he has made you worthy of receiving such a great boon from him, for which let us be forever thankful. And so you, a vassal of God—are you not by his leave the restorer and the comforter of all France? You have turned war into peace, grief into joy, death into life, hatred into love, bloodshed into healing, dearth into abundance, and every evil into good. O, glorious things are spoken of you!77

Louis’s confessor at this time was Jacques Gelu, who would later be chosen as an expert to advise on whether Charles should have faith in Joan. No doubt he was instrumental in putting about the story of the earlier dauphin’s divine inspiration with the spirit of peace. Already, in the year of Joan’s birth, some such as Christine and Gelu, were hoping for a strong and firm treaty to bring about the peace that Joan would also call for in her letter to the duke of Burgundy. In that year, a mass was held in the Cathedral of Auxerre to celebrate its hoped for inception. On her way from Domremy to Chinon, Joan halted at this town, in order to hear mass in its cathedral, and one cannot help but wonder whether she knew of these earlier events. An earlier, and only surviving autograph exemplar of the Book of Peace, now in Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, KBR, 10366, came into the Burgundian library at some time prior to 1467.78 It is unclear when or how it came into Burgundian hands. Although experts claim that Christine offered it to John the Fearless, it seems unlikely that she would have presented this book to him when it was first written.79 He left Paris during 1414, at the entry of the Orleans princes into Paris, an event celebrated in the book. John did not return to Paris until 1418, by which time Christine had departed the town. In the earliest Burgundian inventory in which the manuscript is mentioned it is said to date from 1422.80 This has been assumed to be a mistake, but if it is, it is a rather surprising one, since it is quite clear from Christine’s text that it was written between 1412 and 1414. Another possibility is that there is no mistake in the catalog and that previously the manuscript included a flyleaf

Green_9781793613165.indb 81

15-04-2021 13:10:57

82

Chapter 5

or note that indicated that this particular copy was confected in 1422 and came into Philip the Good’s possession at this time. This date coincides with the first period of Amadeus VIII’s negotiations, when Arthur of Richmond visited Philip the Good, attempting to promote peace between Philip and Charles VII.81 It was at this period that Arthur contracted to marry Philip’s sister Marguerite, widow of Louis of Guyenne, to whom the Book of Peace had initially been dedicated. As a gift given to Philip of Burgundy at the beginning of these new peace overtures, Christine’s book would have been completely apt, and this surmise would help account for a significant feature of KBR, 10366. The Brussels manuscript differs slightly from a later exemplar, BnF, fr. 1182, which must have descended, by a different route, from the copy presented to Louis of Guyenne. The copy in the Burgundian library has been altered in order to revise some passages which might have offended Burgundian sensibilities. The Paris version, speaks, on folio 55r, about an evil man who, out of pride and arrogant presumption, pursued his quarrel with those he had offended, maintaining his false principles and seeking the destruction of those he had wronged. It speaks of murders and calls this person a tyrant.82 In the context in which they were written, these passages can only be read as criticizing John the Fearless as a tyrant. However, they have been altered in order to moderate the critique in the Burgundian manuscript, which nevertheless still contains strong material warning of God’s punishment of evil princes, possibly intended for the ears of Philip. Créquy’s manuscript contains the stronger wording, so was not copied from KBR, 10366, but possibly from the lost version presented to Louis of Guyenne, which one would expect to have been inherited by his widow, Margaret of Burgundy.83 Given this background, Créquy’s interest in the work becomes thoroughly comprehensible and demonstrates that Christine’s interventions in pursuit of peace were remembered in Burgundian circles. It is also worth noting that the treaty that Christine praises in the first part of the Book of Peace was the work of Amadeus VIII, count of Savoy, and of Louis II of Anjou, King of Sicily, as well as Louis of Guyenne. We have noted how, prior to Joan’s appearance, the first of these was engaged in a renewed effort to negotiate the peace between the dauphin Charles and Philip.84 Two years later Alain Chartier traveled to Bruges where he presented Philip with his Lay de Paix. It was during this period of renewed diplomatic activity that Joan’s voices asked her to promise to remain a virgin and began to teach her how to behave. Jean de Créquy is also claimed to have been responsible for saving six stanzas of le Franc’s poem, which deal with the issue of Joan’s male dress.85 These stanzas were omitted from the versions of the poem available previously, as a result of an apparent censorship. They have been restored in

Green_9781793613165.indb 82

15-04-2021 13:10:57

The Ladies’ Champion

83

Robert Descgaux’s 1999 edition.86 The bibliophile Jean de Créquy’s name has also been associated with a manuscript of de Pizan’s Book of the Three Virtues which now belongs to the Beinecke Library at Yale.87 However, the arms found on the manuscript tie it to the Crèvecœurs.88 Nevertheless, de Créquy, whom le Franc names as someone who wants to preserve the memory of those who deserve acknowledgment, was interested in preserving the works of Christine de Pizan, as was a member of the Crèvecœur family. Crèvecœur, one should remember, was one of the names of Franc Vouloir’s supporters as he entered the lists in defense of women. In le Franc’s poem the advocate’s account of Joan’s exploits is followed by the adversary’s doubt. He uses the recent case of Brother Thomas, a preacher who had inspired the French with his sermons against luxury and, in particular, extravagantly large, fashionable headdresses, but who had gone to Rome and been burned for heresy, in order to cast doubt on Joan’s sanctity. Echoing the account of Joan that is given by the anonymous “bourgeois of Paris” he suggests that she was taken as a page by a captain, who taught her to carry arms, and she later falsely presented herself as a simple shepherdess.89 The champion defends her, and in particular defends her wearing of men’s clothes, and then turns to a general exhortation to follow her example and work for peace and unity in France and the church. Having demonstrated the prowess and strength of women, le Franc turns to praising their knowledge and learning. He begins with Minerva, one of Christine’s favorites, relating, as she had done, how she provided men with weapons and lances.90 He describes Ysiphile and Yragne (Arachne) and then Thamaris, Yrene and Marcia, great women painters discussed by Christine just after her account of Arachne and Pamphile.91 The poem then turns to witchcraft, the adversary suggesting that women are sorcerers, the champion pointing out that in fact it is men who have penned the great works of necromancy. The adversary gives a classic account of the witches’ Sabbath, which he claims to have heard from an old woman’s confession, and while he might have disbelieved her, her words were confirmed by another who told him that “Greek and Latin came to their synagogue.”92 It is important to note that this long debate on the existence of witches and their powers is implicitly a continuation of the defense of Joan. She was burned as a sorceress and heretic, and the English accounted her a witch. But if there are no witches, she must have been falsely accused. The advocate does not deny outright the existence of people who practice magic arts; he refers to the case of Gilles de Rais, recently burned for sorcery and the murder of numerous children, to show that the devil knows better how to enchant men than women.93 However, he cites the traditional authorities, Saint Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome to support the view that such supernatural acts as flying are illusions.94 During Joan’s lifetime, a clerk from Speyer had already

Green_9781793613165.indb 83

15-04-2021 13:10:58

84

Chapter 5

defended her against the charge of being a witch, in a Latin treatise, Sibylla Francica, written two months after Christine’s Ditié. In the first part of this treatise Joan is represented as a new sibyl, in the second part she is defended against English accusations that she is a witch.95 Returning to his explicit defense of women, le Franc reiterates the point that Christine had made in her earlier works, namely that the fact that some women are evil does not show that all are, just as the fact that some men are evil does not show that all men are. He begins his account of wise women with the story of the nine muses. These muses also appear in both in Christine’s Long Path of Learning and her Mutability of Fortune, where they are mentioned as the source of Christine’s father’s wisdom.96 Having discussed the wise women of ancient times, le Franc comes to Christine. He praises her in extreme terms saying that he cannot praise her enough without sighs, regrets and cries, and neither can those who were able to serve the gay prince of love.97 There is nothing here to explain why so much tragedy should surround her name. She apparently lived a long life, and no record of a tragic end exists. Yet once again one might think that le Franc is hinting at something, a tragedy that befell her about which he can’t or won’t elaborate. He goes on to say that her countrymen are able to boast to foreigners about her and should not conceal (courtine) her works so that while death hides (encourtine) her body, her name will live on. Christine is therefore clearly among those whom le Franc thinks deserves renown. His poem reminds people of her greatness, in a context which suggests that, while she was like the sibyls of old, she is being unjustly overlooked. His description of Christine contains an element of mystery. The idea that death has hidden her body suggests, like the laments and tears, something concerning her death which has been concealed. But perhaps this is just poetic hyperbole. And indeed, further on le Franc lists other poets whose loss is lamented, Machaut, Alain Chartier, Castel, Nesson and Mercadé, but he says, greater than these, Christine was a Tully for eloquence and a Cato for wisdom. Even the adversary can find nothing truly bad to say about her, except to suggest, as her detractors had done earlier, that her son may have written her works. He ends with the comment that he is surprised that the champion has not mentioned “Jamette” the niece of Nesson, who has been called another Minerva.98 The suggestion that he, le Franc, and others had served the prince of love with Christine de Pizan, relates us back to the illumination of the cemetery of the chapel of Love. For a prince of love had presided over the court of love, implicitly evoked by the memory of “la belle dame sans merci” and its author, Alain Chartier. In a later chapter I will discuss the career of Alain Chartier, who was one of Charles VII’s secretaries, as well as a successful poet. We will see that in a treatise on hope, written not long before Joan’s appearance, he seems to have anticipated her arrival, a fact that I would never

Green_9781793613165.indb 84

15-04-2021 13:10:58

The Ladies’ Champion

85

have noticed had I not followed the hints provided by le Franc’s poem. By re-evoking the court of love associated with Chartier, le Franc reminds us of his earlier reference to “la belle dame sans merci” in the cemetery of love and links this part of the poem with those earlier sections which extol the peace of Arras. After praising Christine, the poem turns to the sibyls and a discussion of good and bad prophecy. This may all seem rather remote from Joan and Christine, except for the fact that the divine character of Joan is explicitly linked by Christine to a prophecy by one of the sibyls. To a reader well versed in contemporary poetry, the opening lines of Christine’s poem also suggest that Christine is putting herself in the place of a sibyl. Much of the contemporary commentary on Joan, in particular the treatise apparently written by Gerson, to which le Franc alludes in defending Joan’s male dress, as well as the treatise of the aforementioned clerk of Speyer, had connected Joan with the sibyls. The last-mentioned treatise had also been concerned with the problem of distinguishing a true prophet of God from a false agent of the devil, a problem of discernment which had long troubled Gerson.99 Joan’s legitimacy depended crucially on whether she counted as a true or false prophet. Those who believed in Joan saw her as like the sibyls, and as fulfilling a prophecy connected with them. Joan’s adversaries depicted her as a heretic, who fell into error when she claimed to have spoken with visions. Thus, this discussion is absolutely pertinent to Joan’s status. Implicitly objecting to Joan’s claims to have been prophesied, the adversary suggests that Merlin and the sibyls are more enchanters than prophets. The champion upholds their divine inspiration. Le Franc’s poem is highly suggestive, women are praised for having brought about the peace—Joan and Christine are also praised. Joan herself is added to the list of heroines that Christine had recounted in her Book of the City of Ladies, thus reinforcing the similarity between her and the Amazons, whose story Christine had told in many places. Christine herself is added to the pantheon, and the authority of the sibyls that she had used to promote Joan’s cause, is defended. Just as Christine includes in her City of Ladies, some contemporary women whose virtues she praises, so too le Franc ends this fourth book by praising some contemporary queens and duchesses. The first is the Queen of France, Marie of Anjou who: “in times of general disarray showed more valour than a wise prince or proud king,” next, her daughter Yolande (1434–1478), now a “pymontoise princesse” in virtue of having been betrothed to the Savoyard, Amadeus IX (1435–1472).100 She is followed by ‘madame de Charolais’ the child-bride of Philip of Burgundy’s son, Charles. She was another of Marie of Anjou’s daughters, Catherine of France, who, in 1439, had been betrothed to the then six year old son of Philip of Burgundy and Isabella

Green_9781793613165.indb 85

15-04-2021 13:10:58

86

Chapter 5

of Portugal, Charles (1433–1477) sealing the “alliance, love and affection” established between France and Burgundy by the Treaty of Arras.101 Le Franc next mentions “madame la dauphine” Louis XI’s first wife, Margaret of Scotland, followed by the duchesses of Bourbon, Orleans and Alençon, named but not discussed at great length.102 There are thousands of women le Franc says that he could praise, but there is one out of a thousand of whom he chooses to speak. She is the widow of King Louis of Sicily. This title makes one think first of Yolande of Aragon, mother of Marie of Anjou. But the virtuous and wise queen to whom le Franc is referring here is not in fact Yolande, but Marguerite of Savoy, a daughter of Amadeus VIII, who had married Yolande’s son Louis III of Anjou in 1432, and been widowed a few months later.103 Le Franc ends his praise of living women with Anne of Cyprus, another duchess of Savoy.104 She was Anne, the daughter of Charlotte of Cyprus, who was in turn, the youngest sister of Louis of Vendôme and Jacques II de La Marche and had married Janus of Cyprus in 1411.105 Anne, Charlotte’s daughter had been married to Louis I of Savoy in 1434. Her daughter, Charlotte named for her grandmother, would in time become the second wife of Louis XI and Queen of France. The alliances that le Franc evokes here are extremely significant. For some years Yolande of Aragon’s political negotiations had involved attempts to arrange the marriage of her eldest son Louis III of Anjou to the oldest daughter of the duke of Brittany, whom she worked hard to detach from his friendship with the English. In 1425 Gilles de Rais and his grandfather and guardian, Jean de Craon had been sent to negotiate this betrothal at Saumur. But while expected for many years, this marriage never eventuated. Marguerite of Savoy’s marriage with Louis indicates that by 1432, Yolande of Aragon was more interested in maintaining her friendship with Savoy than cementing her relationship with Brittany. We will see that for a number of reasons, Yolande is a prime suspect for having been one of the duchesses alluded to by le Franc in his strange introduction to the story of Joan for she worked closely with Arthur of Richmond, Louis of Vendôme, and others, during the period 1422 to 1428, in order to secure her son-in-law’s future. Book V of le Franc’s poem turns to the praise of the Virgin Mary. At first sight this seems distant from Joan’s exploits, but as will be brought out in subsequent chapters, Joan believed that she was acting with the special protection of the Virgin. The Virgin as the crowning achievement of feminine power is also an important topos for Christine, and for other religious women of this period. So, in 1441, a defender of Joan, who accepted that she was “spiritually enflamed,” also asserted outright that she had learned to carry a lance and armor. We should therefore presume that someone taught her these skills, which she demonstrated soon after arriving at Chinon. This defender also

Green_9781793613165.indb 86

15-04-2021 13:10:59

The Ladies’ Champion

87

asks rhetorically, what the princesses, queens and duchesses could have done against their powerful enemies? He follows his praise of Joan with praise of Christine, whom he associates with the prophetic sibyls. As we shall see, Joan’s appearance fits in with the prophetic interpretation of history to which Christine subscribed. Before looking more deeply into this tradition I will explore, in chapter 6, the character of Louis of Vendôme, and his connections with some of the queens, princesses and duchesses to whom le Franc might have been alluding, in order to enhance our understanding of the women (and men) who might have wanted to do something against their powerful enemies.

NOTES 1. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 16809–16840. In line 16834–5, the French is “Dont vint et pour quoy et comment, tu le scez bien et m’en veuls taire.” Deborah Fraioli translates this as “Where she came from, why or how, you know very well, so I’ll not speak of that,” see Fraioli, Joan of Arc, 213. Another English translation, which concurs with mine, can be found in Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 245–6. Rather little hangs on this difference in translation, since the importance of the passage lies in the fact that it asserts that Joan learned to carry lances and wear armor. 2. Ibid., line 23420. 3. Pierre Champion, Proces de Condamnation de Jeanne d’Arc, 2 vols. (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1921), 2: 342–4; Joycelyne Gledhill Dickinson, The Congress of Arras 1435. A Study in Medieval Diplomacy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), 17; Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc. Her story, 211. 4. Gaston Paris, “Un poème inédite de Martin Le Franc,” Romania 16 (1887), 398. 5. M. L. Bellaguet, ed., Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, 3 vols. (Paris: Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1994), IV:683–5. 6. Gaston du Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 6 vols. (Paris: 1881–1891), 2:315 and 351–99. 7. Contamine, Charles VII, 122. 8. de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:352. 9. Ibid., 2:353–9. 10. Ibid., 2: 360; Contamine, Charles VII, 122. 11. Jules Quicherat, “Supplément aux temoignages contemporains sur Jeanne d’Arc,” Revue Historique 19 (1882), 76–79; Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:401–10. 12. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, 1:viii-x. 13. Pierre Champion, Vie de Charles d’Orleans (1394–1465) (Paris: Champion, 1969) 72–4. 14. Eric Hicks (ed.), Le Débat sur le Roman de la Rose (Paris: Champion, 1977); Ouy, Reno and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 187, 215, 229, 333.

Green_9781793613165.indb 87

15-04-2021 13:10:59

88

Chapter 5

15. Enguerrand Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the Adjoining Countries, translated by Thomas Johnes, 2 vols. (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849) II.180, vol. 2, p. 4. 16. Paris, “Un poème inédite de Martin Le Franc,” p. 428. 17. Ibid., p. 436. See also, Charity Cannon Willard, “The Patronage of Isabel of Portugal,” in The Cultural Patronage of Medieval Women, edited by June Hall McCash (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996), 308; “An Unknown Manuscript of Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Paix,” Studi Francesi 64 (1978), 92. 18. Tu a parlé de sainte eglise, Je ne sçay en quele manniere; Plusiers as loué a ta guise, Les ungs devant, autres derriere. C’est ce qui m’a bouté arriere Par le moyen de dame Envye, Laquelle morra de mort fiere S’elle me voit deux mois en vie. Paris, “Un poème inédite de Martin Le Franc,” 430.

19. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 1196–1264; Christine de Pizan, Othea’s Letter to Hector, 46. 20. Pizan, The Book of Peace. 21. Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, I:246, vol.1, pp. 465–6. 22. Ibid., I:246, vol. 1, p. 467. A “Rigault de la Fontaines” was made responsible for maintaining the truce hammered out by Amadeus of Savoy in 1430. If this is the same person, le Franc is plausibly here alluding to an incident which was (in an indirect way) responsible for bringing the Burgundians closer to the French. 23. Monique Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne (Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1998), 387; Richard Vaughan, Philip the Good (London and Harlow: Longmans, Green and Co., 1970), 100. 24. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 269–70. Jacqueline de la Trémouïlle, one of Isabelle’s ladies, was married to Jean de Luxembourg, bastard of Saint Pol, in 1433 after the death of her first husband André de Toulongeon. Another of Isabelle’s ladies, Isabelle de Roye was married to Philippe de Ternant, Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 133 and 264. Charny was married to one of Philip’s illegitimate daughters, ibid., 68. 25. Pizan, Othea’s Letter to Hector, 53. There is also an echo here of an allegory: “Li Liure du cloistre de lame” (British Library Add. MS 39843 and Add MS 20697 and Brussels Bib.Royal MS 9555–8) this was translated into English as “The Abbey of the Holy Ghost” (British Library, Royal MS 16 E.XII). In these allegories, Charity is the Abbess, see Christiania Whitehead, “Making a Cloister of the Soul in Medieval Religious Treatises,” Medium Aevum 67 (1998), 1–29. 26. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 3:583. 27. Deborah Fraioli has argued that Joan was not centrally depicted as an Amazon. As we will see below, this is certainly not the case with regard to Martin le Franc, and Christine’s allegorization of Penthesilea as charity undermines the contrast that Fraioli develops between the warriorlike Amazons and the virtuous biblical women who demonstrate the power of God to raise up the weak and overthrow the

Green_9781793613165.indb 88

15-04-2021 13:10:59

The Ladies’ Champion

89

strong. See Deborah Fraioli, “Why Joan of Arc Never Became an Amazon,” in Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), 189–204. 28. Mombello, La tradizione manoscritta dell’ “Epistre Othéa”: Misty Schieberle, “The Lytle Bibell of Knyghthod, Christine De Pizan’s Epistre Othea, and the Problem with Authorial Manuscripts,” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 118, no. 1 (2019). 29. Symphorien Champier, La nef des Dames (Lyon: Jaques Arnollet, 1503), p. 42 and Symphorien Champier, La nef des Dames (Paris: Jehan Delagarde, 1515). Some of the relevant passage is reproduced by Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:344, note 3. 30. Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2.360. 31. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 1753–60. At the chateau of Loches, when Joan privately begged the king to follow her to Reims he was accompanied by Christopher Harcourt, Robert le Maçon, and Gérard Machet, see Auguste Vallet de Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII roi de France et de son epoque 1403-1461, 3 vols. (Paris: J Renouard, 1862), 2:81. 32. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 1849–64. 33. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 24. 34. Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, II.77, vol. 1, p. 567. 35. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 37. 36. Ibid., 31–4. 37. Charity Cannon Willard, “A Portuguese translation of Christine de Pizan’s Livre de Trois Vertus,” PMLA 78 (1963), 459–64. 38. Robert B. Bernard, “The Intellectual Circle of Isabel of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, and the Portuguese Translation of Le Livre des Trois Vertus (O Liuro dos Tres Vertudes),” in The Reception of Christine de Pizan from the Fifteenth through the Nineteenth Cenrturies: Visitors to the City, edited by Glenda K. McLeod (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1991), 46. 39. de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, 50; Le Livre des trois vertus, 33–4. 40. de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, 51–2; Le Livre des trois vertus, 35–6. 41. Charity Cannon Willard, “The Manuscript Tradition of the Livre des Trois Vertus and Christine de Pisan’s Audience,” Journal of the History of Ideas 27 (1966), 438. 42. Laidlaw, “A Publisher’s Progress,” 35–75. 43. J. Shirley (ed.), A Parisian Journal, 1405–49 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), 295. 44. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 385–7. 45. Vaughan, Philip the Good, 100–1. 46. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 2033–2048. 47. Having been rather quickly made a widow, Jaquette remarried Richard Woodville, a handsome Englishman, without her relatives’ consent. Her uncle Louis of Luxembourg became governor of Paris after Bedford’s death. Perhaps she was

Green_9781793613165.indb 89

15-04-2021 13:11:00

90

Chapter 5

unhappy with her uncle’s behavior, for Louis is said to have alienated the population. See Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, II.210, vol. 2, p. 46, and Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 147. Later, however, Louis returned to the French cause. Jaquette had been given, by her first husband, the duke of Bedford, the queen’s manuscript. It was as a result of this marriage that many of the translations and printed versions of Christine’s works came to England. Her daughter, Elizabeth married Edward IV, and a number of English manuscripts of Christine’s works were copied for them. 48. Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, II.235, vol. 2, p. 73. 49. McLeod, Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet, 227. 50. Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, II:243, vol. 2, p. 88. 51. Ibid., II:252, vol. 2, p. 100. 52. Ibid., II:261, vol. 2, p. 110. 53. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 14171–14172. 54. Paris, “Un poème inédite de Martin Le Franc,” 397. 55. Alcuin Blamires, The Case for Women in Medieval Culture (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997). 56. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 5759–5776. 57. Ibid., lines 5800–5824. 58. Ibid., lines 5840–5848. 59. See, ibid., lines 17048–17128, particularly the lines: J’amasse mieulx par ma creance Que femmes eussent gouverné. Je sçay qu’en telle doleance Anglois n’eussent France mené. Car leur courage en doulceur né Eust eu pitié du poure peuple Qui a misere abandonné Se meurt ou aultre part repeuple. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 17105–17112.

60. Sarah Hanley, “The Politics of Identity and Monarchic Governance in France: The Debate over Female Exclusion,” in Women Writers and the Early Modern British Political Tradition, edited by Hilda Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 289-304; Paul Viollet, “Comment les femmes ont été exclues en France, de la succession à la couronne,” Memoires de l’Institut de France, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 34 (1893), 125–78; Élaine Viennot, La France, les femmes et le pouvoir. L’invention de la loi salique (Paris: Perrin, 2006); Craig Taylor, “The Salic Law and the Valois Succession to the French Crown,” French History 15 (2001), 358–. 61. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 9200–9216 and 9444–9448. 62. Altmann, The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan, 84–134. 63. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 11105–11108. 64. Ibid., lines 14788–14800. 65. Ibid., lines 15108–15568.

Green_9781793613165.indb 90

15-04-2021 13:11:00

The Ladies’ Champion

91

66. Ibid., lines 16412. 67. Ibid., lines 16404–16512; Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, I.16– 18, 40–7. 68. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 16553–16560. 69. Ibid., lines 16657–16664. 70. Like Christine and Alain Chartier he uses the spelling “Delbora,” see ibid., 16761. 71. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, 1:xiii. 72. Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, II:86, vol. 1, p. 572. 73. Père Anselme de Sainte Marie, Histoire généalogique et chonologique de la maison royale de France, des pairs, grands officiers de la Couronne et de la Maison du Roy et des anciens barons du royaume, avec les qualitez, l’origine, le progrès et les armes de leurs familles (Paris: Companie des Libraires Associés, 1726–33), 4:526–31. 74. Tania Van Hemelryck, “Christine De Pizan–a Manuscript’s Progress . . . Persepctives Sur Un ‘Nouveau’ Témoin Du Livre De Paix De Christine De Pizan,” in Sens, Rhétorique Et Musique. Études Réunies En Hommage À Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, ed. Sophie Albert, et al. (Paris: Champion, 2015). 75. Luke 1:14. 76. See Religieux de Saint-Denys 4:693 for an account by Michel Pintoin, the author of the Chronique, of Louis of Guyenne’s intervention on behalf of peace. He, like Christine, attributes Louis’s intercession to divine inspiration. William Tignonville was one of the people deputized to work out the clauses of this peace, and it therefore seems highly likely that he was one of the “people worthy of belief” who relayed to Christine the story of Louis’s prayer to his confessor, here repeated. 77. Pizan, The Book of Peace, 61–2. 78. Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 705–9. 79. Ibid., 687. 80. Pizan, The Book of Peace, 42. 81. Guillaume Gruel, Chronique d’Arthur de Richemont Connétable de France, Duc de Bretagne (1393–1458), ed. Achille le Vavasseur (Paris: Librairie Renouard, 1890), 25–30. 82. de Pizan, The Book of Peace, 44–48 and Van Hemerryck, “Christine De Pizan–a Manuscript’s Progress,” 392–4; Ouy, Reno and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan 692–4. 83. Van Hemerryck, “Christine De Pizan–a Manuscript’s Progress,” 398. 84. Willard, “An Unknown Manuscript of Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Paix,” 93. 85. Gertrude H. Merkle, “Martin Le Franc’s Commentary on Jean Gerson’s Treatise on Joan of Arc,” in Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), 185. 86. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 16921–16968. 87. Christine de Pizan, Le Livre des trois vertus, xx. 88. Eric Hicks, “Le Livre des Trois Vertus of Christine de Pizan: Beinecke ms. 427,” Yale French Studies 80 (1991), 65.

Green_9781793613165.indb 91

15-04-2021 13:11:01

92

Chapter 5

89. Shirley, A Parisian Journal, 260–3. 90. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 17217–17288; Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, I:34 and I:38, 73–75 and 79–80. 91. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 17289–17376; Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, I.39–41, 83–5. 92. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 17441–17544. 93. Ibid., lines 18176–18192. 94. Ibid., lines 17636–17640. 95. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 3:422. 96. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude, lines 799–1050; Pizan, Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, lines 211–88. 97. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 18945–18948. 98. This presumably sarcastic remark may be intended to imply that Christine was an Armagnac, for Jamette Nesson, niece of Pierre who married Huguet de Cordebeuf in 1431 is now known for a rondeau she addressed to Tanguy du Chastel. 99. Deborah Fraioli, “Gerson Judging Women of Spirit: from female mystics to Joan of Arc,” in Joan of Arc and Spirituality, ed. Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). 100. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 20292–20312. 101. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, 56. 102. Agnes of Burgundy, Marie of Clèves and Marie of Armagnac, who Jean d’Alençon married in 1431, his first wife, Jeanne d’Orleans having died. 103. J. Balteau et al., Dictionnaire de biographie française, 19 vols. (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933–2000), 2:1293. 104. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 20328–20360. 105. Bellaguet, Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, 4:397–400.

Green_9781793613165.indb 92

15-04-2021 13:11:01

Chapter 6

A Very Little Golden Ring

And there are many who have set aright their husbands’ businesses, bearing the weight of their affairs and secrets, gently and discreetly—despite crudeness and lack of love on the part of their husbands. Many illustrations to the point can be found in the Bible and in ancient history: for example Sarah, Rebecca, Esther, Judith, and many others; and in our own time we have seen many worthy women in France: Queen Jeanne, pious and devout; Queen Blanche, the Duchess of Orleans and daughter of the King of France; the Duchess of Anjou who now bears the title of Queen of Sicily, all women of beauty, modesty, honour and wisdom—and there are many others; among good women of lesser state there is Lady de la Ferté, wife of Lord Pierre de Craon, much deserving of our praise.1

The letters on the Romance of the Rose that Christine exchanged in the first years of the fifteenth century with Jean Montreuil and the brothers Col have already been mentioned. In the above extract we can see that, already at this early stage of her career, Christine was endorsing women’s quiet intervention in political affairs. In the correspondence here quoted, Christine criticized the Romance of the Rose for its immoral depiction of women. Women, she argues, are unfairly accused by men despite the clear evidence of many pious and devout women. She picks out for special mention the duchess of Anjou and Jeanne de Châtillon, wife of Pierre de Craon, Lord of Sablé and La Ferté-Bernard in Brittany. It is not clear why she chose, in 1402, to particularly recommend Jeanne de Châtillon, who was among Isabeau of Bavaria’s ladies in waiting. But it may have to do with the fact that, for a time, this lady was in grave danger of financial ruin by virtue of her husband’s mistakes. Perhaps implicitly Christine is contrasting the innocence of this wife with the culpability of her husband. Pierre de Craon had 93

Green_9781793613165.indb 93

15-04-2021 13:11:01

94

Chapter 6

made an attempt on the life of Olivier of Clisson, the constable of France in 1392.2 As punishment his goods were confiscated. Contemporary chronicles claim that in executing this punishment the admiral of France stripped La Ferté-Bernard of all its furnishings and chased Pierre’s wife and daughter from the place in only their chemises.3 She also mentions the duchess of Anjou, “who bears the title Queen of Sicily.” One might think that this is Yolande of Aragon, who would, some twenty years later, become Charles VII’s mother-in-law. However, Yolande had only been married to Louis II of Anjou on December 2, 1400, and at the time of writing the letters on the Romance of the Rose, Christine would not have been in a position to judge her character.4 So, she is undoubtedly referring to Yolande’s mother-inlaw, Marie of Blois-Penthièvre, who had been actively engaged as dowager duchess of Anjou, governing in the interest of her son, since her husband’s death in 1384. This chance reference shows that at the beginning of the century, Christine had some interest in the members of the Craon family. And we have seen that, through her friendship with their grandmother, du Guesclin’s widow, she was also potentially interested in their relations, Guy XIV of Laval and his brother André de Lohéac. Gilles de Rais, the Laval’s cousin, who fought with Joan, was a member of both these families. His mother was Marie de Craon, a somewhat distant cousin of the infamous Pierre de Craon. Gilles’s father Guy de Laval had changed his name from Laval to Rais, before Gilles’s birth, with the intention of receiving an inheritance, which finally came to him through his marriage with Marie de Craon. Among the documents pertaining to Joan is a letter, written by Guy XIV and André de Lohéac.5 Quicherat says that Guy’s mother was Jeanne de Laval and that his ancestress Anne was married, when young, to Bertrand du Guesclin. But he seems to have got the names reversed, for this “Anne” is the same person that Christine is referring to when she speaks of Jeanne de Laval, wife of du Guesclin. When Guy wrote his letter about Joan to his mother and grandmother, at the beginning of 1429, the women were at the castle of Vitré as a result of the loss of Laval to the English in 1428. The letter written by Guy and André is full of gossip and interesting details concerning the people gathering to the king’s cause. They report having seen the dauphin, Louis, then about seven years old, a handsome and gracious boy. Their cousin, the wife of la Trémouïlle, is pregnant and will have the baby in two months.6 Another Angevin, Robert le Maçon, the lord of Trèves, and their uncle had introduced them to the king, and the letter excitedly describes how kindly they were received. The letter then relates how they saw Joan handle an angry horse that was led to a cross at her behest, and how she mounted it and rode away with her brother, both in white armor and with a page carrying her standard. Guy says:

Green_9781793613165.indb 94

15-04-2021 13:11:02

95

A Very Little Golden Ring

The Maid said to me when I went to see her in her lodgings, that three days before I arrived, she had sent to you, my grandmother (ancestress), a very little golden ring, and that it was a very little thing, and she would have been happy to send something better, considering your recommendation.7

Since Jeanne de Laval was du Guesclin’s widow, it has been suggested that in sending this ring, Joan was paying homage to du Guesclin. A ring is a very little thing, but it raises all sorts of questions. How did Joan know about du Guesclin? Why did she feel grateful toward a woman who was Christine de Pizan’s contemporary and more than fifty years her senior? How indeed did she even know of her existence? The phrase “considering your recommendation” is rather ambiguous in this context. Are we to understand that Guy XIV de Laval’s grandmother had recommended Joan, and if so to whom? Had she received news of Joan’s mission from her old friend Christine and encouraged her relations to rally to Joan and the dauphin? Or is Joan suggesting that Guy’s grandmother had been recommended to her, as a great and gracious lady? It would be nice to be able to hypothesize that Christine, or someone else of her generation, must have been the source of Joan’s knowledge of this wife of du Guesclin. But in fact, Joan’s connection with this family is overdetermined. Louis of Vendôme had married Guy XIV de Laval’s sister Jeanne on August 24, 1424.8 He could have been Joan’s contact with this woman, who had been du Guesclin’s wife. So, apart from the fact that they both knew her, there is nothing further to connect Christine and this old woman, who lived near the region of Brittany, with Joan who came from Domremy, on the eastern border of France. Yet, these fragments are tantalizing for they reinforce the impression that the people closest to Joan during the campaign to take Reims were a close-knit group, connected by blood to a select group of women who, in former times, had been sufficiently important to Christine for her to have mentioned them by name in her books. Their descendants will also be overrepresented among those who, in the late fifteenth century, kept the memory of Christine alive by having her works copied. Christine had been a friend of Louis of Vendôme’s sister, and she had also had warm words for his mother.9 She was Catherine of Vendôme, countess of La Marche and of Castres, who had been lauded by Christine as an example of a widow who was a great landholder and who ruled her estates wisely, making sure that justice was upheld. She had inherited the estates of Castres and Vendôme at the death of her brother, sometime before 1375. After the death of her husband Jean I de La Marche, in 1393 she governed these lands in her own right until her death in 1411. Later in this chapter we will see that there are iconic and prophetic features of Joan’s short history that are reminiscent of incidents in the history of Jean I de La

Green_9781793613165.indb 95

15-04-2021 13:11:02

96

Chapter 6

Marche, her husband, which also involved his more famous companion in arms, Bertrand du Guesclin. It was Louis of Vendôme who escorted Joan into the dauphin’s presence when she arrived at Chinon, and this fact is significant, for in introducing her to Charles, Louis took some responsibility for her. It is worth saying something about the character of Louis of Vendôme, for he seems, in an age when pilgrimages and large gifts to the church were compatible with all the vices, to have been a genuinely devout man. In the first decade of the century, he and his brother Jacques had been prominent in the government of France. The Monk of Saint-Denis devotes a chapter to him, in which he tells a story which reflects badly on his brother Jacques but shows Louis to have been a sincere believer in the Virgin’s intercessory power. In 1411, during a period when both he and his brother were exercising considerable authority in Paris, then under the influence of the duke of Burgundy, Jacques de La Marche was taken prisoner by the Orleanists.10 While he was in prison, Catherine of Vendôme died and her estate was divided up by Louis, who had been made the sole executor of her will. On his release from prison Jacques became convinced that his brother had cheated him, and he in turn, threw Louis into prison. Louis languished for eight months, in a dark dungeon, afraid that he had been relieved of all his lands and possessions. But he discovered that Louis II of Anjou (1377–1417), King of Sicily, had intervened on his behalf, and that the clergy were refusing to administer absolution to his brother. He attributed these acts to the intercession of the Virgin and the saints, to whom he had prayed, and not wanting to be reproached for ingratitude, he refused to cut his hair and beard until he had fulfilled all the devout promises he had made while in captivity. Possibly, since he later entered into her service, Louis’s wife Yolande was equally responsible for this intercession. The Monk of Saint-Denis recorded this story after witnessing his prostrations at the church of Saint-Denis, where Louis presented a “one hundred pound candle,” in honor of his namesake and ancestor, Saint Louis. The monk added that Louis had refrained from complaining of this treatment to the king, in order to prevent dishonor falling on his family.11 A similar story is told concerning Louis of Vendôme’s release from captivity in England. While in captivity in the Tower of London, he had become gravely ill. Once again, he attributed his recovery to the power of prayer, and some years later, but as soon after his return from captivity as he was able, on March 19, Good Friday of 1427 (ancient style), he presented a candle weighing thirty-three pounds to “Dieu et a la sainte Larme,” the tear of Christ, which tradition had it, had raised Lazarus.12 Later, shortly after the capture of Joan at the siege of Compiègne, on October 20, 1430, Louis of Vendôme and Jean de Brosse, lord of Boussac, who was marshal of France, headed a small force which lifted the siege. On this occasion also, he made a devout

Green_9781793613165.indb 96

15-04-2021 13:11:02

A Very Little Golden Ring

97

promise, which was to establish a perpetual service at Notre-Dame de Senlis, which once again he kept.13 Not only was Louis of Vendôme pious and a genuine believer in the Virgin’s intercessionary power, but he was also a practical and experienced man of war. When he returned from captivity in England he was soon closely engaged with the political affairs of Yolande of Aragon. He set to work reorganizing the French forces and brought together Etienne de Vignolles, “La Hire,” an old Armagnac adventurer versed in the guerrilla tactics of du Guesclin, as well as the young Jean V, lord of Brueil, “Le Jouvencel.” Under his guidance the French forces returned to the tactics that du Guesclin had adopted in the fourteenth century and began to harass the English and Burgundians, stopping their advance.14 As early as October 1424, only months after his return from England, when Yolande of Aragon brought together the Breton princes and Charles VII at Angers (so that Charles might guarantee the dowry of Isabelle of Brittany, Richmond’s niece, who was to be married to Louis III of Anjou) Louis of Vendôme was involved in the negotiations. On October 22, Yolande entertained Arthur of Richmond, the count of Vendôme, and the viscount of Thouars. It was as a result of these initiatives that Arthur of Richmond became constable of France.15 In January 1425 of this year, in the company of Arthur of Richmond and Charles’s chancellor Martin Gouge, Louis of Vendôme passed through Lyon on his way to participate in one of the peace negotiations organized by the Amadeus VIII of Savoy.16 He was one of the ambassadors sent to a meeting with Amadeus planned to be held at Montluel on April 16, which did not take place until May 10.17 Thus we see him participating in a double-pronged initiative: on the one hand, military, on the other hand, diplomatic and ideological. With his great faith in the Virgin’s capacity to intercede in human affairs, it is unsurprising to find him supporting Joan’s prophetic mission. While the official gloss on the incident of the gold ring sent to Jeanne Laval is that Joan was paying homage to the memory of du Guesclin with this gift, historians have not remarked that on the accepted account of Joan’s origins it really is strange that she should have known anything of him. He had been a great commander under Charles V, but had died in 1380, forty-nine years earlier. Someone must have told Joan of his exploits and taught her who his relations were. Christine had eulogized this hero’s acts and lamented his death in her Deeds and Morals of the Good King Charles V.18 He was a hero for her and for those of her generation who knew the history of Charles V’s reign. He had also been godfather to Louis of Orleans and his feats, celebrated by the poet Deschamps, would have been well known to the supporters of Charles of Orleans.19 Yet his name is hardly likely to have been common currency for the majority of Joan’s contemporaries in Domremy. In order to have known about du Guesclin, to have known that his wife was still alive, that she was

Green_9781793613165.indb 97

15-04-2021 13:11:03

98

Chapter 6

now called “Laval,” and that Guy and André were her grandsons, Joan must have received some instruction. Joan’s acknowledgment of du Guesclin’s widow suggests that she was aware that she was now involved in a campaign, similar to that waged earlier, by this warrior, to rid France of the English. A glance at this earlier period begins to throw some light on the significance of the political prophecies that circulated when Joan appeared. Du Guesclin’s career was associated with a period during which the French had managed to push back the English invaders. As with Joan, his successes were represented as heralded by prophetic passages to be found in the books of Merlin. The fact that de Guesclin was the beneficiary of prophetic tidings helps explain his importance for Joan, and also demonstrates how common it was, at this period, for military successes to be explained in prophetic terms. In Christine’s Ditié, Joan’s appearance is linked to prophecies attributed to Merlin, the sibyls, and Bede. According to a long poem La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin, written not long after his death, du Guesclin’s victories in Spain were similarly prophesied. These prophecies are supposed to have been taken from the book of Brut, which tells the deeds of Merlin, though the relevant passages have not been located. According to them, du Guesclin was associated with an eagle, born in Brittany, who was to descend on Spain where he would find and defeat a miscreant king.20 His early victories are represented as prophesied by his first wife, Tiphaine, described as learned in astrology and philosophy. The Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin tells a story in which good overcomes evil through the divine intervention of virtuous French knights, as prophesied by Merlin. Christine’s account of Joan’s appearance contains echoes of this earlier episode of knightly prowess. In the mid-fourteenth century, du Guesclin had taken an army to Spain to restore Christian justice. Don Pedro, King of Castille, had been married to one of the sisters of Jeanne of Bourbon, Charles V’s wife, another of whose sisters was the prioress at Poissy. The poem tells us that, due to the magic herbs and enchantments of another woman, Pedro came to hate his wife, and would not have her near him. Pedro, whose faith is severely questioned in the Chanson, protected the Jews and Saracens of Castille. His brother, Henry, then prophesied, following the reading of Merlin, that an eagle would come to conquer Pedro. The Chanson relates how Pedro subsequently encouraged two Jews to murder his wife. They arrived at night, expecting to find her asleep, but in fact she was praying in her chapel. Being told that some Jews had arrived, saying that her husband wanted her to come to him, she realized that she was to be killed, and went calmly to her death, recommending her soul to heaven, a Psalter in her hand.21 At this point in his history things go badly wrong for Pedro, for as prophesied, good will ultimately overcome evil.

Green_9781793613165.indb 98

15-04-2021 13:11:03

A Very Little Golden Ring

99

A Jew, who had known Don Pedro’s father, was so disgusted by the king’s behavior that he came to Henry’s court, and before a large assembly of knights and prelates, having had himself and his wife and children baptized, told the following story. As a young man he had served the king and had known the rich lady, who had been his first wife. Henry was in fact the son of this woman, but she had died soon after his birth. The king had then remarried and his second wife gave him four daughters. When she gave birth to a fifth daughter, in order to keep her husband’s love, she had her girl child replaced with a fine Jewish boy. Don Pedro was thus revealed to be not even of royal blood! This “revelation” led to outright war between Henry and Pedro. Henry was at first vanquished and took refuge in France. To rid themselves of his marauding forces and to avenge the death of the queen, the French ultimately sent a force, led by Bertrand du Guesclin, to Henry’s aid.22 Among the knights who made up this force was Jean I de La Marche, the father of Louis of Vendôme, and Jacques II de La Marche. Not without many setbacks, this army finally prevailed against Pedro. The two Jews who had murdered the queen were forced to fight a judicial combat that ended spectacularly, according to the poem, in God striking them both dead. Pedro and his brother fought each other and, thanks to a rather underhanded intervention by du Guesclin, Henry was able to stab and kill his brother. Two things are evident from the representation of this earlier episode of French history. First, prophecy was taken seriously, and history was understood through prophetic portents. Second, in marrying Jeanne de Laval, Louis of Vendôme was cementing an old family connection between the relations of du Guesclin and the family of the counts of La Marche. He was both making a strategic alliance with a family whose interests were close to his own and rekindling the memory of a more propitious past. When Joan sent a ring to Jeanne Laval to thank her for her recommendation, she too demonstrated that she valued the connection with this earlier period, when Merlin’s prophecies had supported France’s aspirations. As a result of this history, Castille remained a close ally of France. Not long after his father’s death Charles VII drew up a document outlining the powers bestowed on an embassy involving Jacques Gelu, then bishop of Tours, and Jean Castel, Christine’s son, which was signed at Mehun-surYèvre on November 25, 1422.23 Though it is not clear that this embassy ever took place, the fact that it was planned shows how this past relationship with Castille was not forgotten in royal circles. In his work on Gilles de Rais, Bossard says that there was no family more devoted to the Maid than this family of Laval’s (to which Guy de Laval and Gilles de Rais belonged) nor any family for which she showed more affection.24 In a sense, this is not surprising. The duke of Bedford had captured Laval in March 1428, and was poised to attack Anjou. Louis of Vendôme’s

Green_9781793613165.indb 99

15-04-2021 13:11:03

100

Chapter 6

estates were also under threat. This group was fighting as much for its own estates as for the crown of France. But Joan and her mission also fitted into a pattern of historical interpretation to which they were committed, and which evoked the prophesied successes of a past generation. Louis of Vendôme had also been particularly closely connected to Valentina Visconti. He had lived at the court of Louis of Orleans, and after Louis’s death, defended his widow and children.25 He was present on two occasions when Valentina attended the royal court, dressed in deep mourning, to demand justice and to defend her husband’s reputation against the accusations that John the Fearless had concocted in order to justify Louis’s murder. On these occasions he was accompanied by Guillaume Cousinot, who argued in Valentina’s defense.26 While Louis of Vendôme avoided allying himself with the Armagnacs during the period of 1409 to 1415 and had considerable influence during some of the periods during which John the Fearless dominated Paris, he was always staunchly royalist. Most of Joan’s close associates were, like Louis of Vendôme, also closely connected either to the house of Orleans, to the Angevins, or to the Bourbon family. Dunois was one of Joan’s closest companions in arms in the early campaign against Orleans. He was Jean, “bastard of Orleans,” illegitimate son of Louis, duke of Orleans, and half brother of Charles of Orleans. His mother was Mariette of Enghien, married to the lord of Carny. Dunois was born on November 23, 1402. His governess, Jeanne du Mesnil, guided his early steps at the castle Beauté-sur-Marne, for until 1410 he and his brother he were raised with the dauphin Charles and shared a governess.27 Valentina Visconti had apparently taken charge of the education of her husband’s illegitimate son, and Isabeau’s youngest, as well as that of her own children. The young Charles VII, who was not at this time dauphin, left Valentina’s household after the Cabochien uprising in 1413, to join that of Yolande of Aragon. Dunois went with him, for he was at the same time betrothed to the daughter of Jean Louvet, the president of Provence, one of Yolande’s close advisers.28 More than twenty years later many members of the Angevin court were still to be found closely connected with the courts of Charles VII and his wife Marie of Anjou. Matheline de la Gave, wife of President Jean Louvet, and a Jeanne du Mesnil are listed among the ladies in the court of Marie of Anjou.29 Alain Chartier’s association with Charles VII also dates back to his adolescence in Anjou. We have seen that there is reason to think that Joan’s appearance was the outcome of a political process, put in place after the return of Louis of Vendôme from England and involving, in ways not yet entirely clear, some of the royal women of France. One noblewoman, both a queen and a duchess, has previously been suggested, by Jehanne d’Orliac and Zita Rohr, as a likely force behind Joan’s appearance. She is Yolande of Aragon, duchess of

Green_9781793613165.indb 100

15-04-2021 13:11:04

A Very Little Golden Ring

101

Anjou and Queen of Sicily, who provided funds for the assault on Orleans that turned out so well.30 In 1427 she had sold her jewels and plate and raised a large sum from her estates to help provide the provisions that were sent to revictual Orleans.31 Yolande was the daughter-in-law of the earlier Queen of Sicily, praised in the extract from Christine’s letters, with which this chapter began. She is mentioned a number of times by Christine, as a woman of virtue and wisdom. She and her husband, Louis II of Anjou, King of Sicily, had been mediators between the two warring factions in France even after the murder of Louis of Orleans by John the Fearless and we have seen that between 1424 and 1427 she returned to a mediating role. Earlier, as a consequence of the butchery of the Cabochean uprising, relations between Anjou and Burgundy had become strained, and Catherine, Philip’s sister, who had been betrothed to Yolande’s son, Louis in 1410, was returned to her family with only part of her dowry.32 But the Angevins continued to be involved in negotiations to bring about the peace. The strategy represented by Joan, which was to bolster the dauphin’s legitimacy, while pursuing negotiations with the duke of Burgundy, was consistent with Yolande’s diplomacy. Not only was Yolande’s daughter, Marie, married to Charles VII, it was partly in the domain of Yolande’s son, René of Anjou, that Domremy stood. As mentioned in the previous chapter, le Franc had said of Marie that “in times of general disarray showed more valour than a wise prince or proud king.”33 She was a great supporter of Joan’s mission and during her campaigns Joan was often lodged with Marie’s associates. Before the assault on Orleans, she stayed at Tours with Éléonore de Paule (or Pau) who had married Jean Dupuy.34 Between 1422 and 1427 Éléonore had been one of Marie of Anjou’s damoiselles.35 Jean Dupuy was both a royal councillor and looked after the interests of Yolande of Aragon, to whom he had been attached since 1413.36 Later, during the winter, Joan lodged at Bourges with the wife of Regnier de Bouligny, Margerite la Touroulde, who was also one of the ladies who made up the court of Marie of Anjou.37 The story has often been told of Joan going to visit René’s father-inlaw, Charles of Lorraine at Nancy, before setting out to Chinon. Charles of Lorraine had sent a messenger to ask her to visit him, and Joan traveled to Nancy, where he questioned her about his health. She was more interested in urging him to put away his mistress and to remain faithful to his wife, Margaret of Bavaria, a distant cousin of Isabeau, than in giving him medical advice.38 She also asked him to send his son-in-law René, who had recently sworn allegiance to Burgundy, to fight with her. It has been further claimed that Baudricourt had grown up with René, and that he had received a letter from René a little before he was persuaded to grant Joan’s request to go to the dauphin. These connections have often been pointed to by those who suspect that there was a measure of contrivance in Joan’s appearance.

Green_9781793613165.indb 101

15-04-2021 13:11:04

102

Chapter 6

It has been objected to the theory of Yolande’s having been involved that she was at no time during this period near Domremy. Philippe Contamine, on the basis of a detailed account of Yolande’s itinerary, has argued that they could never have met, prior to Joan’s introduction to the court at Chinon.39 Régine Pernoud, an important twentieth-century authority on Joan, briefly considers Orliac’s suggestion that Joan was a creature of Yolande’s devising, and dismisses it. Yann Grandeau is similarly dismissive pointing out that Yolande would have been foolish to rely on a young girl she had never met.40 But the absence of a meeting does not show that Yolande cannot have been told of the portents surrounding Joan by intermediaries. Following le Franc’s poem, I have been led to examine the career of Alain Chartier, one of Charles VII’s secretaries, who seems to have anticipated Joan’s appearance in his Treatise of Hope, written in 1428.41 This treatise is pregnant with the possibility that help is near at hand and that the oppressed French people will be saved by God’s intervention as other oppressed peoples whose stories are recounted in the Bible have been. Chartier had begun his career in Yolande’s household, the earliest surviving reference to him coming from her household accounts for 1408/1409 and in 1414. The later date was when the dauphin Charles was living with her. After this date Chartier became notary and secretary to Charles and the earliest letters signed by him, in this capacity, were written from Paris in September 1417.42 He traveled widely on diplomatic missions from Scotland to Hungary during the period of 1425–1428, and he, for one, could well have conveyed to Yolande confidential news of the emerging hope of God’s grace to be found on the borders of the realm. Yolande need never have been to Domremy if some other person was the first to be impressed by Joan and to have recognized her potential as a Maid sent by God to aid the French. She would not have been foolish if convinced by someone, such as Alain Charier or Louis of Vendôme or another person, who supported the French crown, believed in astrology, and knew the prophetic tradition, that signs pointed to Joan. Christine was just such a person and she almost certainly had been acquainted with Yolande in Paris. In the City of Ladies she tells a story, which seems to be an eyewitness account, about the wife of Bureau de la Rivière, Marguerite d’Auneau (mother of Perrette de la Roche-Guyon, a member of Marie of Anjou’s court), who gave her golden headdress away in order to deliver an ancient knight from debtor’s prison.43 The incident took place at a feast held by Louis II of Anjou, which suggests that Christine was a guest and so acquainted with Yolande. But even if Yolande did not know Christine well personally, were one of her trusted former servants, Alain Chartier, or one of her most important captains, Louis of Vendôme, to have vouched for her impeccable credentials as the interpreter of these prophecies, Yolande would have had every reason to place her hope in this female champion, sent by God with the special blessing of the

Green_9781793613165.indb 102

15-04-2021 13:11:05

A Very Little Golden Ring

103

Virgin. Not only was Joan prophesied, it appears she had been well prepared to carry out her mission. It may never be possible to say exactly whose voice Joan heard during the summer of 1424 or 1425. Perhaps it was the voice of a Saint Catherine—a nun who had taken this name—accompanied by a Saint Margaret. But more likely it was the voice of someone who, in the course of the years, told her the stories of these saints in order to encourage her and fortify her for her mission. During the three to four years that elapsed between her initial promise to remain a virgin, when the mission to crown the King of France was first proposed to her, and the departure for Chinon, via Vaucouleurs, in early 1429, there was plenty of time for Joan to be schooled in stories of her illustrious foremothers, as there was time for her to be taught the rudiments of the art of war. Joan said that her voices had taught her how to behave—an impossibility if they were merely hallucinations. Christine had provided an account of the lives of the saints to whom Joan appealed in her Book of the City of Ladies. Saint Catherine takes pride of place as the first to be introduced. The story of this feminine counterpart of Saint Augustine, who refuted the pagan philosophers, is told at some length. The account, more or less as Christine relates it, is as follows. Catherine was the daughter of King Costus of Alexandria, a great heiress who refused to marry. When she was eighteen, the Emperor Maxentius came to Alexandria to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and hearing the bellowing and cries of the poor creatures about to be sacrificed, Catherine went before him and reprimanded him. Being well-lettered and very learned, she proceeded to prove that there is only one God, who is creator of all things and who alone should be worshipped. Then the emperor marveled greatly and called from all the land of Egypt wise philosophers to hear and refute the arguments of the young woman, and so they assembled from far and wide to take part in this great debate. When the day of the debate came, she argued so well that all the pagan philosophers were converted, and confessed in the name of Jesus Christ, and the emperor in his fury had them burned alive. But miraculously the fire did not harm them. Then the emperor, who had conceived a great lust for the holy and wise virgin, tried to woo Catherine but she resisted him. So, he imprisoned her for twelve days without food or visitors, but after the twelve days she emerged healthier and fresher than before, for God gave her sustenance. Next he had built great wheels armed with knives to cut her to pieces and strapped her naked between them. But once again, God intervened, and by her faith she was preserved. But in the end, he beheaded her, and so she was martyred. When she died, milk flowed from her wounds, not blood, and the angels of the lord came down and carried her body across Egypt to Mt. Sinai where she was buried. From this tomb there flows to this day an oil which heals

Green_9781793613165.indb 103

15-04-2021 13:11:05

104

Chapter 6

many illnesses. When Joan visited Saint Catherine de Fierbois, she was paying homage to this saint and perhaps saw the relics that Jean le Meingre had brought back from the shrine of Saint Catherine on Mt. Sinai. As we will see in a later chapter, this incident has its own place in the network of connections between Joan and Christine. Given the prominence accorded to Saint Catherine in the City of Ladies, and Christine’s great respect for Saint Augustine, whose City of God is evoked in the title of her book, the name of Saint Catherine, the wise saint who converted the philosophers, would have been a natural choice for Christine to have adopted, were she to have taken the veil. Less controversially, one could speculate that Joan’s voices had read to her from Christine’s book, in order to show her how greatness is possible in a woman. It is noteworthy that the story of Saint Margaret follows directly after the account of Saint Catherine in the City of Ladies. It would be entirely natural for someone who had been inspired by stories read to her from a manuscript of this work to remember the names of the first two saints, and to say that their voices had spoken to her. However, these stories were well known, and many women owned copies of collections of the lives of the saints from which Christine had derived her account. So, one cannot with certainty ascribe Joan’s knowledge of them to familiarity with Christine’s book. Joan was not chosen arbitrarily. Part of her success lay in the fact that she could plausibly be associated with ancient prophecies well known to learned clerks and poets of the period. Current discussions of Joan tend to suggest that it was simply adventitious that Joan appeared at a time and place that allowed her to be associated with these prophetic portents. But, at a period in which reading the astrological signs was a serious and well-paid profession, it is more likely that she was encouraged to believe in her mission by someone who seriously judged that a propitious time was nigh. Any man or woman with some knowledge of the astrologer’s art might have recognized Joan’s potential. Any woman in communication with Yolande and other royal ladies might have encouraged her divine inspiration. Christine de Pizan, the astrologer’s daughter, would certainly have been in a position to predict her. And in her poem, she shows a deeper knowledge of the portents surrounding Joan’s appearance than any other contemporary writer. Yolande would have been entirely susceptible to offering her support to an inspired woman who claimed prophetic powers, as is clear from her association with Jeanne-Marie Maillé, an inspired prophetess who died in 1414.44 In 1415 a hearing was conducted in order to promote the canonization of this mystic, who ended her life as a recluse at Tours. At the hearing Yolande testified on her behalf, for she was her friend and associate. Like Joan at a later date, Jeanne-Marie had connections with the Franciscans. Jeanne-Marie was also a friend of Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus, the sister of Louis of Vendôme,

Green_9781793613165.indb 104

15-04-2021 13:11:05

A Very Little Golden Ring

105

and Jacques II de La Marche, whose daughter was referred to in le Franc’s poem. Jacques, as we will see in a later chapter, also had close links to another devout Franciscan prophetess, Colette of Corbie. Such women are evidence of the popular feminine prophetic spirituality in this period, and in particular their appeal to noblewomen such as Yolande. These women had considerable influence. This shows that in some ways, Joan is not quite the anomaly she has been made out to be. What distinguishes her from her spiritual contemporaries is that, uniquely, she takes on the character of the biblical prophetesses of old and goes into battle to save her people. When Joan was finally rehabilitated, Guillaume de Chartier, Alain Chartier’s brother, by now bishop of Paris, was appointed one of the commissioners to oversee the rehabilitation.45 Had Alain, in connection with a group of women including Yolande, been partly instrumental in Joan’s appearance, Guillaume would have had a clear motive for involving himself in the process of setting the record on Joan straight. But we will defer further discussion of Alain Chartier and speculation as to who was actually involved in training and promoting Joan until after we have examined the prophetic signs used to justify believing in her. I began the research for this book because I was intrigued by a coincidence: that it was less than thirty years after the appearance of the earliest noteworthy book written by a woman, defending women, and urging them to actively promote peace that Joan of Arc intervened so dramatically in France’s history. This coincidence led to the discovery of further coincidences. The people who fought with Joan either knew or were the descendants of people who knew Christine, the author of the Ditié. I then argued that we should take the story that Joan “heard voices” or “saw visions” with a pinch of salt. The records of the trial show her being led in this direction in order to establish that she was a heretic. The rehabilitation testimony suggests that, even at this stage, the true story of Joan’s appearance was being obscured for the sake of promoting the legend that God directly intervened to preserve the crown of France. Researching the connections between Joan and Christine, I discovered a pre-rehabilitation poem, which implied that Joan was taught to carry a lance and wear armour, and which introduced the discussion of Joan by asking what people in the know thought when Joan appeared, suggesting that they might have thought about what queens, princesses, and duchesses could do against their enemies. We have now looked more closely at some of the queens and duchesses who were Joan’s contemporaries. In the next two chapters we come to the argument at the heart of this book. This argument involves a closer look at the prophecies that were circulating when Joan appeared. Christine’s poem gives us more information about these prophecies than any other contemporary source, and when we look at them closely, in the light of the tradition of medieval political prophecy, we can come to

Green_9781793613165.indb 105

15-04-2021 13:11:06

106

Chapter 6

understand how devout believers might have helped Joan fulfill these prophecies, and how Charles’s advisers were led to believe in her. NOTES 1. From the Letters on the Romance of the Rose in Charity Cannon Willard, (ed. and trans.), The Writings of Christine de Pizan (New York: Persea, 1994), 157–60. 2. John Henneman, Olivier Clisson and Political Society in France under Charles V and Charles VI (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 153; Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror (London: Papermac, 1995), 412–14 and 94–7; Yann Grandeau, “De Quelques dames qui ont servi la reine Isabeau de Bavière,” Bulletin Philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1975), 175. 3. Bellaguet, Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, II:9. 4. Zita Eva Rohr, Yolande of Aragon (1381-1442) Family and Power. The Reverse of the Tapestry (Houndsmills: Palgrave, 2016), 22. 5. Bertrand de Broussillon, La Maison Laval 1020–1605. Étude historique accompagnée du cartulaire de Laval et Vitré, 5 vols. (Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1898), 3:75–9; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:105–11. Extract in Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 92–3. 6. This is Catherine de l’Isle-Bouchard, who married La Trémouïlle after the violent death of her husband, Pierre Giac. La Trémouïlle was in a sense a “cousin” of Guy XVI of Laval, being the descendant of his uncle Guy XI. 7. Broussillon, La Maison Laval, 3:78; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:109. 8. Broussillon, La Maison Laval, 3:16. Patrick Van Kerrebrouk, La Maison de Bourbon: 1256–1987 (Villeneuve d’Ascq: n.p., 1987), 95. 9. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:68 and I:13, 214 and 35; Cropp, “Les personnages féminins.” 10. Bellaguet (ed.), Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, IV: 579–81. 11. Bellaguet (ed.), Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, V: 163–5. It is not clear whether the candle weighed or was worth 100 pounds. 12. Louis-Alfred Hallopeau, Essai sur l’histoire des comtes et ducs de Vendôme (Paris: Vendôme, 1911), 65. 13. Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:38 n.2. 14. Hallopeau, Essai sur l’histoire des comtes et ducs de Vendôme, 58–63. 15. Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII roi de France, 1:430. 16. Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:360–1. 17. Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:367, n. 3. With him were count dauphin d’Auvergne, the archbishops of Rheims, of Lyon and Toulouse, the bishop of Puy, Adam of Cambrai, and others. 18. Pizan, Le Livre des faits et bonnes moeurs du roi Charles V le Sage, III.70, 310–12. 19. Eustache Deschamps, Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps, 11 vols. (New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966; reprint, Johnson reprint 1966), 1:147.

Green_9781793613165.indb 106

15-04-2021 13:11:06

A Very Little Golden Ring

107

20. Cuvelier, Le Chanson de Bertrand Du Guesclin, 1:155 and 3:51. 21. Ibid., 1:157–60. 22. Ibid., 1:161–6. 23. BnF, Lat. 6024, f. 15v, see Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2: 309, n. 1. 24. Abbé Eugène Bossard, Gilles de Rais Maréchal de France dit Barbe-Bleue (Grenoble: Jérôme Millon, 1992), 38. 25. Van Kerrebrouk, La Maison de Bourbon: 1256–1987, 95; Monstrelet, Chronicles of England, France, Spain, I:37 and 44, vol. 1, pp. 57 and 90. 26. Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle, 14. 27. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 180. 28. Malcolm Graham Alan Vale, Charles VII (London: Eyre Methuen, 1974), 23. 29. Colleen Lily Mooney, “Queenship in Fifteenth Century France,” PhD Dissertation, Ohio State University, (1977), 377. 30. Jehanne d’Orliac, Yolande d’Aragon la reine des Quatre Royaumes (Paris: Librarie Plon, 1933), 169; Rohr, Yolande of Aragon (1381-1442) Family and Power. 31. D’Orliac, Yolande d’Aragon, 239; Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:63. 32. C. A. J. Armstrong, “La Politique Matrimoniale des ducs de Bourgogne,” in France, England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century (London: The Hambeldon Press, 1983), 241. 33. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 20292–20296. 34. He was a counselor to Yolande of Aragon, “la Royne de Secille,” see Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:154. 35. Mooney, “Queenship in Fifteenth Century France,” 377; Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:65, n. 2. 36. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 4:218. 37. Mooney, “Queenship in Fifteenth Century France,” 377. 38. Margaret of Bavaria was a fairly distant cousin of Isabeau’s. 39. Philippe Contamine, “Yolande d’Aragon et Jeanne d’Arc: l’improbable rencontre de deux parcours politiques,” in Femmes de pouvoir, femmes politiques durant les derniers siècles du Moyen Âge et au cours de la première Renaissance, ed. Éric Bousmar, et al. (Brussels: de boeck, 2012); Charles VII, 151–2. 40. Yann Grandeau, Jeanne insultée: procès en diffamation (Paris: Albin Michel, 1973), 256. 41. Contamine, Charles VII, 139. 42. James Laidlaw (ed.), The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974), 3. 43. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:67, 211–12; Mooney, “Queenship in Fifteenth Century France,” 377. 44. André Vauchez, “Jeanne d’Arc et le Prophétisme Féminin des XIVe et XVe siècles,” a paper presented at Jeanne d’Arc une epoque une rayonnement. Colloque d’histoire médiévale, Orleans, 1979, 162–3. 45. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 156.

Green_9781793613165.indb 107

15-04-2021 13:11:07

Green_9781793613165.indb 108

15-04-2021 13:11:07

Chapter 7

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

And you blessed Maid, Should you be forgotten, For God has honoured you so much Who has untied the ropes That tied down France so tight? Can we praise you enough When this land, humiliated By war, has come to peace? You Joan, born in a blessed hour, Praise be to him who made you! Maid who God commanded, In whom the Holy Spirit bestowed His grace, in whom all with Great generosity is given from on high, No request denied, Who ever could repay you? Of what could any more be said Not even great feats of the past? Moses in whom God endowed So much virtue and grace That he without being cowed The people of God out of Egypt led By a miracle. Just so have we Escaped from evil. Maid elect!

109

Green_9781793613165.indb 109

15-04-2021 13:11:07

110

Chapter 7

Consider your person, Just a young virgin, Who God has given power and force To be a champion and to be She who gives France succour Of peace and sweet milk And just rout to rebels, See things quite outside nature. For God through Joshua made Miracles marvellous many Conquering places; and routed There were many, he was a man Powerful and strong. But you are A woman—simple shepherdess— Braver than even men were in Rome! For God this was an easy thing. But as for us, we have never heard Of greater marvel spoken, For all brave men from distant times That there have been, just do not seem, So great as this who has just been, To kick outside our enemies. But it is God who counselled her, And gave her such a heart of man. Of Gideon much is made, A simple labourer by trade, And God made him, so says the tale, Fight so none could prevail Against him, and all were conquered. But this miracle so apparent Was not so great a demonstration As He has made for her, it appears. Hester, Judith and Deborah, All women highly prized By whom God restored Their people, which was a great prize, And others of whom we have learned Who were valiant, have they not

Green_9781793613165.indb 110

15-04-2021 13:11:07

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

111

Many miracles achieved. But more was done through this Maid. By a miracle she was sent And through the divine intervention Of the angel of God was sent To the King for his provision. This fact is no illusion, For it has well been proved, In council (in conclusion A thing is proved by its effects). And well examined she Has been, before she was believed, In front of clerks and wise men led This thing to search and see She said before it was well known That she by God to the king was sent. And it was found in history That she must do what had been said. For Merlin and Sibyl and Bede, 500 years ago have seen Clairvoyant, that for the sake Of France, written in books it has been, Their prophecies were made Saying that she would carry the banner In French wars, and telling Her deeds just as they happened.

These are the stanzas of Christine’s poem in which she praises Joan’s miraculous intervention. It is worth noting that there is no mention here of Saint Catherine or Saint Margaret. But if Joan had mentioned these “voices” before her trial, one would expect Christine to acknowledge them in this account of Joan’s inspiration. Christine believes that Joan has been sent by God, and she praises the “Maid who God commanded, in whom the Holy Spirit bestowed His grace, to whom all with great generosity is given from on high,” and whose requests are granted. She also says that “she was sent by a miracle, through the divine intervention of the angel of God.” But, as we have seen, we should not take this talk of miracles too literally. Christine had earlier proposed, in her Book of Peace, that Louis of Guyenne’s earlier intercession in the cause of peace was “miraculous.” “The divine intervention

Green_9781793613165.indb 111

15-04-2021 13:11:07

112

Chapter 7

of the angel of God” is the cause of all wonderful events and does not imply visions. Christine goes on to explain how we can know that Joan was sent by the divine inspiration of the angel of God for the king’s provision. She says that this was written in books, proved in front of clerks, and found in history that Joan had been prophesied by Merlin, and the Sibyl, and Bede. A good deal of the quick acceptance of Joan rested on the fact that she appeared to be the embodiment of prophecies that had been circulating before her appearance. Although she did not unequivocally claim to be the Maid who had been prophesied to save France, it was claimed at the rehabilitation that she had hinted at the idea before she left Domremy. These prophecies were of two kinds. One kind indicated the year 1429 and, in one way or another, predicted to coming of a virgin. The other pertained to the dauphin Charles, and his role as indicated by the Charlemagne prophecy. In this chapter we will concentrate on the first prophecies, in the next we will move on to the second. Scholars whose research has thrown a great deal of light on the origins of these prophecies, but who nevertheless believe that Joan left Domremy without any human prompting, are forced to argue that it was at the Council of Poitiers that the prophecies were discovered and rewritten in forms that were then used to promote belief in her mission.1 This involves accepting some very unlikely events. First, without being insane, Joan heard voices, which told her to go to France, and when she had approached the king it was adventitiously discovered that many well-known prophecies fitted her time and situation. In fact, there is every reason to conclude that those who interrogated Joan at Poitiers, and who attested to her doctrinal orthodoxy, remained somewhat skeptical of her claims.2 This makes sense if she brought prophecies with her, but it is inconsistent with the assumption that her interrogators then went to work to find prophecies to support her. Had they been willing to do such a thing, they would surely have included the results of their investigation in the so-called Conclusion of the Council of Poitiers, which was disseminated by the court, rather than simply saying, as they did, that she should not be rejected, but should be given a chance to prove herself. We have already established that we have every reason to believe that Joan had learned to carry a lance and been taught the art of war. We can easily understand why she was instructed, if we assume that one or more people, who sincerely believed in prophecy, saw, for reasons which remain obscure, her potential as the prophesied virgin who was to save France, and who therefore gave her the skills to play this role. When we understand the medieval role of political prophecy we can understand, in non-miraculous terms, the origins of Joan’s mission. When Joan appeared, a prophetic chronogram was circulating, attributed to Bede. This prophecy which begins “Vi cum vi culibis ter septem se sociabunt”

Green_9781793613165.indb 112

15-04-2021 13:11:07

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

113

can be interpreted to yield the date 1429.3 The translation is obscure, since “vi cum vi” could mean “six with six” or “life with life,” and the period was not adverse to “translating” to suit the times. The Bede prophecy had been recorded in a poem written between 1362 and 1364, in which it served quite a different purpose to that to which it was put in 1429. The Merlin prophecy is also an old prophecy put to new use. It originated in the Merlin prophecies of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regnum Britanniae, Book 7. This chapter concludes with an obscure paragraph that contains the prophecy “virgo ascendit,” taken to predict Joan, in its astrological version, where it implies that Virgo appears above Sagittarius. This passage is later translated as “a virgin ascends the backs of archers, and hides the flower of her virginity.” Somewhat prior to this prediction, but in the same book of Monmouth, the “ex nemori canuto” passage promises a maid, who will appear and alleviate the disasters previously prophesied. It is not immediately clear from these sources how these prophecies are connected with the sibyls. This becomes clearer when one turns to a tradition of pseudo-Joachimist prophecy which had clearly structured Christine’s understanding of history, and in the light of which Joan’s appearance gains a new significance. Joachim of Fiori was a twelfth-century Calabrian monk, who had developed an influential reading of the apocalyptic books of the Bible, and a system of concordances between the Old Testament (the time of the Father) and the New Testament (the time of the Son) which could in theory be used to predict the arrival of a third age, the time of the Holy Ghost.4 The prospects, which his prophecies held out for a coming time of peace, became politically extremely influential. They were believed, among others, by Dante, who influenced Christine. By the fifteenth century, Joachim’s original works had been altered and combined with other prophetic traditions. A typical amalgamation of the prophecies associated with Joachim can be found in a manuscript (now divided into two), which once belonged to Charles of Orleans.5 This manuscript, which consisted in what are now BnF, Lat. 3319 and BnF, Lat. 13428, contains a number of pseudo-Joachimist texts, which purport to be Joachim’s interpretation of the sibyl’s prophecies. Both parts contain numerous marginal notes, pointing out the most significant passages. The first half of the book, as it existed in Charles of Orleans’s time (BnF, Lat. 13428), contains a short version of the Expositio abbatis Joachim super Jheremiam, a pseudo-Joachite text, purporting to explain the Book of Jeremiah, that may be based on a genuine work of Joachim.6 It takes the form of a letter to Henri VI, and execrates the corruption of the empire and church. It follows Joachim’s interpretation of the triple concordance among three stages of history: the stage of the Father, that of the son, and that of the Holy Ghost, the third “status” of peace which is to come. This is followed by other texts attributed to Joachim, De oneribus prophetarum, and a series of applications of the

Green_9781793613165.indb 113

15-04-2021 13:11:08

114

Chapter 7

prophetic material to different geographic regions. The second manuscript (BnF, Lat. 3319) begins with a version of a text, originating in Italy, which purports to be Joachim’s exposition of the prophecies of the Eritrean sibyl, Vaticinia Sibille Erithree prophetisse. On f. 3r we turn to the Sabian sibyl, followed by extracts of the prophecies of Merlin from Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, Book 7. On f. 7r a note “de puella” points to the “ex urbe canuti nemoris eliminbitur puella” passage which predicts a maid who will cure the dreadful ills previously mentioned in the prophecy. The extracts from Monmouth continue up to the passage predicting that Virgo will appear above Sagittarius, the origin of the “virgo ascendit.” These are then followed by Joachim’s exposition of the sibylline and Merlin prophecies. This is followed at f. 9v–25 by the Exposito Abbatus Joachim super Sibillis et merlino. Following this there are various other texts including, on f. 38v verses attributed to Joachim concerning the Antichrist.7 Cum fuerint anni completi mille ducenti Et seni decies post partum virginis alme, Tunc Antichristus nascetur demone plenus Laus Christo detur, operis quod finis habetur.

This is one of the prophecies, which, in a new version, was circulating when Joan appeared. It is recorded, for instance, by the doyen of Saint-Thibaud at Metz, in the following form: Cum fuerunt anni completi mille ducenti; Et decies deni fuerint in ordine pleni Et duo sex deni fuerint in ordine pleni Et duo sex deni venient ab aequore remi Tunc perit Anglorum gens pessima fraude suorum.

Where it, like the Bede prophecy, is interpreted as rendering the year 1429.8 The tradition from which these prophecies are drawn was well known in the circles within which Christine moved, and she may even have used this collection. Gilbert Ouy says that it appears that she consulted it when she wrote the preface to Christine’s Vision.9 He also identifies the hand in which the marginal notes are written as that of Ambrogio Migli, secretary to Louis of Orleans and then to his son Charles. The manuscript is not included in the inventory of the books at Blois, made in 1417, though it is found in that made after Charles’s return in 1440.10 Despite the fact that this suggests that it may have come into Charles’s possession after his return from England, the prophecies that it contains had been circulating earlier. Eustache Deschamps, a poet attached to his father’s court, and who had helped Christine early in

Green_9781793613165.indb 114

15-04-2021 13:11:08

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

115

her career, had been among those disseminating the prophecies of Merlin and Bede during the last decades of the fourteenth century. These prophecies, he claimed, showed that England would soon be defeated.11 In one poem, dated 1385, he wishes that the prophecies of “Bede, Merlin and Sibyl,” which predict the downfall of England, will at last come about.12 In another, he asserts that they must soon be realized.13 In Christine’s poem to Joan these prophecies are assumed to have been finally fulfilled with Joan’s success. Christine’s Ditié is thus one of a number of texts elaborating the story of Joan’s coming to fulfill a prophecy, and the best copy of it that survives is found in a collection of these prophecies made by Nicolas du Plessis.14 It has therefore been suggested that Christine was influenced by propaganda that began to circulate after Joan’s appearance.15 What has not been sufficiently appreciated is that her celebration of Joan’s success refers back to beliefs to which she had given voice to much earlier. Her writings evoke the prophetic tradition long before Joan appeared, and in her account of Joan’s mission she provides us with details of the prophecy that Joan had been sent to fulfill that are simply not available in the sources that are claimed to have influenced her. In Christine’s Vision of 1405 to 1406 Christine had referred to the prophecies of Merlin, the sibyls, and Joachim, warning of the punishment these prophets had promised would fall on those who fell into sin.16 Here she evokes the biblical prophet Daniel and the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar. She cautions that Joachim, Merlin, and the sibyls do not have the same force as the prophecies of the Scripture, but she clearly sets some store by them. Joachim had drawn parallels between the fates of different people at different epochs, and in this text, Christine makes evident the parallels between the contemporary French monarchy, suffering for the sins of its nobility and the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Since her father was an Italian astrologer, whose job it was to provide prognostications for the court of Charles V, and since the Joachimist prophecies had traveled from Italy to France, it is not surprising that she took this tradition seriously.17 Christine’s Vision is a prophetic allegory, grounded in the biblical tradition of God’s punishment of those who have risen too high and lost sight of God’s word. In it, Christine is introduced to a Crowned Lady, personification of France, who tells her both of her previous glory, dating from the times of Charlemagne, and of her current distress. Her ladies of honor, reason, chivalry, and justice have been displaced and imprisoned by fraud, luxury, and avarice. Chapters 17–27 relate many prophetic stories from the Bible to show how those who walk in pride will be abased. The first is the story of Nebuchadnezzar, from chapter 4 of the Book of Daniel, in which Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great tree, full of fruit and sheltering many animals, which was cut down. This dream prophesied his fall into madness and a life eating grass like an ox, a madness that is easily seen as analogous to the fate of Charles VI.18 Christine ends her account of this story with the comment, “Thus will be confirmed the prophecy

Green_9781793613165.indb 115

15-04-2021 13:11:08

116

Chapter 7

of the Virgin which says: ‘Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles.’” This text—the powerful will be cast down and the humble raised—captures in a sentence the essence of the significance of Joan’s future appearance, and the core of her symbolic power.19 Later in the same work, Christine demonstrates her faith in astrology, when she discusses her father, who had been a court astrologer for Charles V.20 She argues that while there is no predestination, the stars do influence events, making certain times propitious for action. In another slightly earlier work, the allegorical poem Mutation of Fortune, she had spoken of her father’s skill as an astrologer, and of a valuable stone which allowed him to predict the future, and to become the king’s councillor.21 The function of this precious stone. To celestial knowledge is the key: Enabling my learned father to see Advising princes, at whose command He’d foretell battles, plagues and famine, The course of planets he’d examine: Symbols of the zodiac could To him reveal how one should React to avoid catastrophe.22

Whether this was literally a stone, or a text, or some other means of divination is not clear. Christine relates that it was extracted from the fountain of the muses, so it should probably not be taken too literally. But whether or not there was any actual instrument of divination possessed by her father, Christine shows herself to be a believer in the efficacy of her father’s tools of trade and may well have inherited the books of which he availed himself in his profession. As well as being associated with prophecies of the sibyls, Joan herself came to be identified with the sibyls in a number of places. One of these is the account of Cosme-Raymond of Crémone. He says in relation to her, “Remember the Eritrean and Cumean sibyls,” two of the sibyls most closely associated with prophecies relating to the appearance of the Virgin. He then quotes Guy de Forli, a great astronomer, who cites the examples of numbers of base born, who by the influence of the stars, come to equal nobles. By an odd coincidence, the town of Christine’s mother’s family was Forli and perhaps this tradition was also known to her.23 Christine refers to Joan as born in a good hour, which while being a mere platitude, also suggests more serious astrological portents. The sibyls held a special place in Christine’s world. These pre-Christian prophetesses had, since the time of Constantine, been believed to have predicted the coming of Christ. In Christine’s Vision, the allegorical figure opinion, who explains the cause of human conflict to Christine, uses these

Green_9781793613165.indb 116

15-04-2021 13:11:09

117

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

women to show that in the past women have been knowledgeable. She assures Christine that nature has not lost the power to give women prophetic wisdom. The Cumean sibyl, in particular, is a perennial of Christine’s poetry. She, like Christine, came from Italy and was Christine’s favorite among these pre-Christian prophetesses, foretellers of Christ. The Cumean sibyl appears in the third and sixth books of Virgil’s Aeneid (3.440–460 and 6.42–895), where she acts as Aeneas’s guide through the underworld, thus playing the role that Virgil will himself fill for Dante in the Commedia.24 This sibyl subsequently also serves as Christine’s guide in Long Path of Learning (see figure 1.1), a poem which recalls Dante’s words in its title, and which stages a debate that indicates Christine’s knowledge of the content of Dante’s writings, particularly Paradiso and De Monarchia.25 Dante’s political ideas are important for understanding Christine’s worldview, for Dante too was influenced by the Joachite vision of history to which Christine alludes in her poem on Joan.26 In De Monarchia he had argued that the world needed a single monarch or emperor in order for peace and justice to reign. Christine develops this Dantean theme in her poem, Long Path of Learning. In it she is led by the sibyl into the heavens, where, in a court presided over by reason, personifications of chivalry, wealth, nobility, and wisdom debate the qualities required in the single monarch, who will solve the divisions on earth, and bring peace.27 Possibly, in 1402, Christine had in mind Louis of Orleans as the universal emperor.28 Dante’s De Monarchia aspired to an empire of peace that was to be a renewal or renovatio of the time of Augustus Caesar, who had ruled the world at the time of Christ’s birth. Since Lactantius it had been believed that Virgil had foretold this peace, as well as the coming of the Virgin, mother of Christ, heralding a new Golden Age, in lines which Dante quotes both in De Monarchia and in Purgatorio.29 The following passage: iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna [Now the Virgin returns, the reign of Saturn returns] (Eclogues, 4.6)

Quoted from Virgil’s fourth Eclogue is glossed by Dante thus: “the virgin” was their name for justice, whom they also called “Astraea”; the “reign of Saturn” was their name for the best of times, which they also called “golden.”30

The Cumean sibyl was also the ultimate character in Christine’s Othea, where the story of her appearance to Caesar Augustus is told. We will see in

Green_9781793613165.indb 117

15-04-2021 13:11:09

118

Chapter 7

the next chapter, that her name had also been poetically linked, by Eustaches Deschamps, to the prophetic tradition of the winged stag, which also formed part of the pseudo-Joachimist corpus. The tradition of the winged stag was in turn connected with a prophecy that promised that the emperor who would bring about the new Pax Romana would be a second Charlemagne. There is evidence that as late as Shakespeare, it was recognized that Joan’s appearance was connected by the French with the same tradition of the coming of a Golden Age to which Dante alludes, and which English poets also used to great effect to bolster the image of their own Virgin savior, Elizabeth I.31 In Henry VI, act 1, scene 5, Shakespeare has Charles VII refer to Joan as follows: Divinest creature, bright Astraea’s daughter, Thy promises are like Adonis’ gardens, That one day bloomed and fruitful were the next, France triumph in thy glorious prophetess.

And while Shakespeare’s play is hardly an accurate representation of the events of Joan’s life, the connection that he draws between Joan as prophetess and the Virgin Astraea of the sibyl’s prophecy indicates a broadly recognized connection between Joan and this tradition. The sibyl’s appearance at the end of Othea functioned to uphold Christine’s authority, for the point of that text was that one should listen to wisdom, no matter who speaks, even if it is a woman. The sibyl is the archetype of the prophetic wise woman, spiritual seer, and shining example for women of their capacity to be inspired by God. Caesar Augustus is the archetype of the wise prince who maintains peace but understands that he does so in the name of God.32 And as we can see, in the Ditié Christine returned to this prophetic vision. Twenty-nine years before she wrote that poem, Christine had linked the name of the sibyl with the project of the restoration of the French crown, and with the thought that the king receives his crown from God. And while some may say that it was simply due to a coincidence that Christine was able to fit Joan’s appearance so well into this established prophetic framework, it is incontrovertible that the climate of expectation and desire that is expressed in Christine’s earlier texts presages the hymn of fulfillment, later written for Joan and her king, Charles. The pseudo-Joachimist interpretation of the Merlin prophecy was seized upon by those who saw in Joan a potent symbol for restoring the courage of the French. Mathieu Thomassin, who put together the Registre Delphinal, a history of Dauphiné, another of the texts in which Christine’s poem is included, says that clerks and other people of understanding thought about whether to put their faith in Joan, and found, among other writings, the “virgo

Green_9781793613165.indb 118

15-04-2021 13:11:09

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

119

ascendit” prophecy of Merlin, which he gives as, “Ascendet virgo dorsum sagitarii/Et flores virgineos obsustabit” [A virgin ascends on the back of the archer and hides the flower of her virginity].33 This prophecy gave her authenticity, but since it had elements that were extraneous to the situation it was rewritten as a poem, more directly related to Joan’s case.34 He does not say who rewrote this poem, and while Fraioli argues that this was done by Charles’s counselors in order to justify Joan’s armor and male dress, it could as easily have been done by Joan’s human promoters. In an early article, written before her study of the early debate about Joan’s mission, Fraioli pointed out that Joan’s image was created out of elements already available in the patriotic literature of the times. More recently others have explored the prophecies which were popular at the time, and which were adapted to apply to Joan.35 Not only was Joan the fulfillment of the prophetic sentiments expressed in the nationalistic poetry of Eustaches Deschamps, Charles d’Orleans, Robert Blondel, and, she might have added, Christine de Pizan, but the plausibility of her appearance and mission was supported by her defenders by citing the cases of biblical women who had saved their people, in particular, Deborah, Esther, and Judith. In relation to these three Fraioli notices an interesting similarity between a treatise on Joan apparently written by Jean Gerson, who years before had joined with Christine in criticizing the Romance of the Rose, and Christine’s Ditié. In her early work Fraioli said: The discovery that the patriotic poets and the Maid spoke with one and the same voice, although the poets had raised their lilied banner well before Joan of Arc, makes Joan’s mission appear as the logical sequel to the poets’ outcries. . . . The poets, as they freely admitted, were propagandists (serving the kingdom “de teles armueures qu’avons”). This does not mean that their voices had reached and influenced the girl from Domremy, nor does it necessarily feed a conspiracy theory.36

Nevertheless, one might add that it certainly gives a conspiracy theory some substance. Similarly, while it must also be admitted that the fact that Joan fitted so well into a role that had been anticipated by Christine does not necessarily feed a conspiracy theory, it certainly provides such a theory with substantial inductive nourishment. Christine and her contemporaries believed in the art of prophecy, they believed in the possibility of renovatio, their belief was sufficiently sincere that they would have done what they could to predict propitious times and to take advantage of any signs which might indicate that the time was ripe for the promised coming of peace. Like Martin le Franc, who praised Joan, and then later turned to praising Christine, Mathieu Thomassin, the author of the Registre Delphinal, also

Green_9781793613165.indb 119

15-04-2021 13:11:10

120

Chapter 7

found it natural to move from praising Joan to a discussion of Christine, whom he had known in Paris. He says that he chose to copy parts of Christine’s treatise, rather than the treatises of others, “in order to honour the female sex by means of which all Christianity has had so many benefits: by the Maid Virgin Mary, the relief and restoration of the whole human lineage: by the Maid Joan, the relief and restoration of the realm of France, which was laid low, to the point of death if she had not come.”37 This comment, written at the period of Joan’s rehabilitation, provides a thumbnail sketch of the theme of le Franc’s poem and like that poem connects Christine, Joan, and the cult of the Virgin Mary. When Joan left Vaucouleurs and was escorted by Jean de Metz (or Nouillonpont) and Bertrand de Poulengy, with their servants Julien and Jean de Honnecourt, across France to Chinon, there was apparently no guarantee that Charles would accept her help. His prelates were wary of heretics and false prophets. Soon after she arrived at Chinon, Gérard Machet, Pierre Versailles, and some others questioned her carefully. Letters were then sent to other ecclesiastical authorities, in order to seek advice. One of these authorities was Jacques Gelu, bishop of Embrun, who had served as counsel for Louis of Orleans and had been the confessor of Charles’s elder brother, Louis of Guyenne. He was told about the Maid, who had been introduced to Charles by certain gentlemen, and who brought predictions and prophecies that were advantageous to the kingdom.38 Since this letter is quite clear that Joan brought “predictions and prophecies, very advantageous to the kingdom,” we can assume that the prophecies which were circulated included those she brought, and she must have acquired her knowledge of them from someone versed in the prophetic tradition. By coincidence, Christine had in all probability been acquainted with Gelu while he was Louis of Guyenne’s confessor. In her Book of Peace, when she recorded Louis of Guyenne’s earlier “miraculous” intervention in the cause of peace, she had spoken of Louis turning to him and praying for peace, and she must have heard this story either from the prelate himself or someone close to him on this occasion. Now Charles’s prelates turned to Gelu, in order to determine whether they should accept this new hopeful augury. However, Gelu was not immediately impressed by the news of Joan’s appearance. His first response was to urge caution, expressing a typical contemporary fear of woman’s duplicitousness. Remember, he says that a woman was sent with poisons to seduce Alexander and kill him.39 Despite this early suspicion, he later became one of Joan’s most vocal defenders. Following Gelu’s initial cautious advice, Joan was sent to Poitiers, where the dauphin’s Parliament sat, and was subjected to further questioning by respected clerics concerning her mission and her faith. It was here that she was able to convince the churchmen that she was not heretical, that she was

Green_9781793613165.indb 120

15-04-2021 13:11:10

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

121

inspired by God, and that she should be given the chance to prove herself. Yet she appears to have had no substantial proof of the validity of her prophecies. She came promising to lift the siege of Orleans, and the success of the campaign at Orleans was the key to the growth of her legend. As Christine said: This fact is no illusion, For it has well been proved, In council (in conclusion A thing is proved by its effects).

Before Orleans the churchmen were prepared to give Joan a chance; this is the substance of the Poitiers conclusions. After Orleans her worth was proved, and her legend assiduously cultivated. It has been claimed that at Poitiers a record was made of Joan’s interrogation. Sadly, if it existed it has been lost.40 Were it to exist it might well reveal who Joan’s voices really were, what prophecies she brought, and explain who she was referring to when she claimed that others had seen and known her voice. The book has, however, long disappeared, and if it ever existed, it was probably deliberately made to vanish.41 Only a short text, which has come to be identified as the conclusion of the interrogation and was distributed throughout Charles’s territory, survives. Even it indicates that human agents had some hand in Joan’s appearance. It begins: The King, in light of the need of himself and his realm, and in consideration of the continual prayers of his poor people to God and all other lovers of peace and justice should not dismiss and reject the Maid who says she is sent by God to help him, even given that these promises are human works: nor should he believe in her hastily and lightly. But following the Holy Scriptures she should be proved in two ways: which is to say by human prudence inquiring into her life, her morals and her intentions, as says St. Paul the Apostle Probate spiritus, si ex Deo sunt; and by devout prayers ask a sign of some work or divine appearance, by which one can judge that she is come from the will of God. Thus God ordered Achaaz who asked for a sign, when God promised him victory, saying to him: Pete signum a Domino; and so did Gideon, who asked for a sign, and many others.42

So, the promises that Joan was thought to have brought from God were admitted, early on, to be human works, no doubt the outcome of some human intervention and divination, and the proof that she was genuinely God’s instrument was to come. The text continues by arguing that Joan has been thoroughly examined by the means available to human prudence, and that

Green_9781793613165.indb 121

15-04-2021 13:11:10

122

Chapter 7

she has promised a sign before Orleans, and that she should be allowed to go to Orleans to prove herself. It is after a “miraculous” change of wind outside Orleans, and the equally “miraculous” lifting of the siege, that Joan’s divine character was proved.43 It has been noticed that there is considerable similarity in the texts written by defenders of Joan. For instance, as Deborah Fraioli suggested that De Mirabili Victoria written in Lyons in May, and attributed to Gerson, appeals to virtually the same exemplars as Christine, allegedly cloistered at Poissy!44 The small selection of biblical heroes and heroines used by Joan’s defenders as examples to justify belief in her include Deborah, Saint Catherine (“who converted the philosophers no less miraculously”), Judith, and Judas Maccabeus mentioned in De Mirabili Victoria. This work also alludes to Moses, mentioning his sister Mary, and quoting from the Bible “‘Cantemus Domino gloriose enim magnificatus est’ [Let us sing to the lord, for he has triumphed gloriously] adding ‘Irruat super eos formido et pavor’ [Fear and dread shall fall upon them].” This hymn, it says, “should be reread and sung again with a devotion suitable to the event.” Near the end of the treatise there is a mention of Camille and the Amazons.45 In another similar text, De Quadam Puella, it is asserted that “it is in harmony with the Holy Scriptures that God made use of the weak sex and the age of innocence to offer peoples and kingdoms the happiness of salvation.” The following examples of this are then offered: Deborah, Hester, and Judith, Daniel who liberated Susannah, and David who felled Goliath.46 All of these examples are summed up with the example of the “humble Virgin” through whom “the redemption of the whole of mankind was born.” A little further on the examples of young and virtuous prophets, who were also “possessed of the Spirit of God,” are mentioned: Joseph, Moses, and Gideon. Whoever wrote this treatise, it is fascinating to note here the echoes of Christine’s much earlier Book of Peace. That work began with the thought that God loves to be praised through the mouths of babes, and cited Daniel’s saving Susannah as a particular example. There it was a question of the “miracle” of the young Louis of Guyenne’s intervention on behalf of peace. Many other instances of a similar group of women being named can be found. Jean Girard and Pierre l’Hermite, when they wrote to Jacques Gelu, mentioned Deborah, Judith, and the sibyls.47 Later, when Gelu wrote his own treatise on Joan, he quoted thirty lines of sibylline prophecy.48 The author of Brevarium Historiale writing in Rome also uses the comparison with Deborah, Judith, Esther, and Penthesilea.49 When we look at Christine’s Ditié we see very much the same list of exemplars. Moses is named first, then Joshua, Gideon, and then three of the biblical heroines we have come to expect, Esther, Judith, and Deborah. There is no explicit mention of the Amazons, just a brief hint of the tales of Troy in her claim in one

Green_9781793613165.indb 122

15-04-2021 13:11:11

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

123

stanza that “she is principle chieftain, no stronger was Achilles or Hector.” Although Penthesilea had loomed so large in her earlier works, in the poem the analogy with Deborah, “the mother of her people” is emphasized through the image of Joan as succoring the French people with the milk of her (virgin!) breast.50 Since the Joachimist logic sought parallels between biblical and modern history, it may have seemed inappropriate to have muddied this parallel with a Greek image. During the reign of Louis XI, when a poem was written for the celebration of the deliverance of Orleans on the 8th of May, the same parallels were being drawn:51 Judith and Esther noble ladies, And many other valiant women, By the will of the God of Gods Fought for the Hebrews And had great victories, As we find in their histories, Just as for our quarrel Joan the Maid battled.

The connection between the maid Joan and the Virgin Mary is also borne out by the verse to be inscribed on a banner for this occasion: To both the Virgins When it pleased you to turn Our mourning to joy We very humbly also Thank you for it.52

These lines succinctly capture Joan as the emissary of the Virgin’s intercession on the side of peace, justice, and rejoicing. What are we to make of the similarity among these examples? They emerge very soon after Joan’s appearance at Chinon, it seems that Girard and Pierre l’Hermite, when writing to Gelu, are the first to bring up the examples of Deborah, Judith, and the sibyls as possible justificatory exempla for Joan.53 This is the conclusion reached by Olivier Bouzy, who adds the observation that Gérard Machet, the king’s confessor and later bishop of Castres, had connections with Pierre l’Hermite, and was an early source of the knowledge of the existence of the Merlin prophecy.54 Gérard Machet was one of those who questioned Joan at Chinon, before she was sent to Poitiers. At the rehabilitation, Alençon names Machet, Pierre Versailles, and some others as with him at this first interrogation.

Green_9781793613165.indb 123

15-04-2021 13:11:11

124

Chapter 7

So, from whence did these doctors derive the examples used to justify accepting Joan? Fraioli cites evidence that at least some of these precursors were brought up in the discussions at Poitiers.55 She assumes, given the tradition of the complete naivety of Joan, that they were thought up by the Doctors at Poitiers, as was the idea of transforming the Merlin prophecy, mentioned earlier. But this makes for rather an odd state of affairs. It is not impossible that the arguments for believing in her were devised by Charles’s theological advisers, who were associates of Gerson, a confirmed opponent of Burgundy’s tyrannicide.56 However, if they were determined to put Joan to use for reasons of political expediency, why bother with the Poitiers examination at all? All the chronicles attest that Joan’s appearance was not generally expected, at least not by the majority of the men at court, and she had to convince Charles’s advisers to allow him to accept her help. The prelates at Poitiers had to be convinced to believe in Joan. This implies that Joan arrived with some arguments in place, and we will see in the chapters to come, that Christine’s Ditié allows us to reconstruct an interpretation of historical events that would have both justified believing in Joan’s potential and been acceptable to the learned doctors. We will also see that, while Joan was not generally expected, some of the examples that we have seen persistently used in the discussion of Joan were anticipated by Alain Chartier, in a text that abounds with prophetic allusions, written sometime before she arrived in Chinon. This indicates that while many at court were ignorant of Joan’s existence, at least some members of Charles’s entourage were aware of the impending appearance of some such phenomenon and had anticipated the arguments in her favor. Joan asserted at her trial that she had been well questioned at Poitiers, and she had been able to convince the prelates of the validity of her signs. The simple assertion “I hear voices” would not have got her very far with these learned doctors concerned, clearly, about the threat of false prophets and diabolical magic arts. The fine distinction between legitimate inspiration and heretical belief is illustrated in a denunciation of belief in sorcery and superstition published by the University of Paris in 1398.57 Many of the articles of this pronouncement are concerned with various kinds of sorcery. The twenty-eighth and last proclaims that it is error to believe that we can arrive at a vision of the divine essence or a vision of the spirits of the blessed. For Joan to be accepted as a legitimate prophet, she had to distinguish herself from those who used forbidden spells, superstitions, and the frauds of cunning people.58 She could legitimately allude to the prophetic tradition of biblical exegesis, and to precursors such as the sibyls, but she would have fallen into error had she claimed to have spoken directly with visions. It is exactly this sort of error that the trial judges accused her of having committed, and into which they led her by a line of questioning which encouraged her to

Green_9781793613165.indb 124

15-04-2021 13:11:11

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

125

speak of her “voices” and to give them visible but immaterial bodies. That this was considered to be an “error” is eminently clear from the “bourgeois of Paris” who describes Joan as she was represented in Paris just after her trial. “Through her false hypocrisy [people] had followed her as if she were a holy maiden, because she told them that the glorious archangel St. Michael, St. Catherine, St Margaret, and many others, appeared to her frequently and talked to her as one friend does to another; not by revelation as God has sometimes spoke to those he loves, but bodily, by mouth, as a friend speaks to a friend.”59 Ironically, the image of Joan that has survived in the popular imagination is one that combines these slanderous English and Burgundian accusations of heresy, with a conception of Joan’s divine mission that is derived from her French supporters. In a letter to a foreign prince, attributed to Alain Chartier, it is claimed that Joan answered so well at Poitiers that one would think that she could not have learned to speak in this way in the fields, but must have lived in the schools.60 Like Christine’s Ditié, this letter is a piece of nationalistic propaganda, intended to advertise to a foreign prince the emerging signs of God’s favor to the French. Yet there is likely to be an element of truth in it. Joan must have been sufficiently well-schooled to have avoided expressing obvious heretical beliefs. Chartier’s claim is meant to underscore the thought that Joan really was divinely inspired. His description of her responding to the clerics echoes the story of Saint Catherine, who defeated the philosophers. But, in fact, it suggests that she had been trained by someone sufficiently knowledgeable concerning orthodox doctrine, and in a well-established prophetic tradition, not to lapse accidentally into error. Joan’s voices must have provided her with arguments, for she survived a grilling. She was convinced of her signs and the possibility of her mission, and she had managed to convince a room full of theologians that she was worthy of belief. The most plausible explanation of the agreement among these various experts as to Joan’s precursors, and as to the nature of her mission, is that they came from Joan herself. But to say this is to abandon the view that she was completely naive. Since Joan said at her trial that the king and several others heard and saw the voices which came to her, and that there were present Charles of Bourbon, and two or three others, one might even wonder whether Christine herself (or whoever discovered and trained Joan) appeared to provide the arguments that led to her being accepted.61 In the City of Ladies, Christine had spoken of the spiritual benefits that have accrued to men from women by the actions of women such as the Sabines, who interceded for peace and the rule of law, at the foundation of Rome. This is the subject of the second part of her book, which begins with a list of the ten sibyls: prophets, she says, whose prognostications were so clear that they seemed to be chronicles. It is just after her account of the sibyls that

Green_9781793613165.indb 125

15-04-2021 13:11:12

126

Chapter 7

she recounts the story of the Hebrew prophetess Deborah.62 Judith and Esther appear a little later, in the same chapter, as particular examples of women who have brought spiritual benefit. Having told the story of the Pharaoh’s daughter who saved Moses, Christine recounts the stories of Judith and Esther and at the end of her version of Esther’s story she mentions Deborah again, who saved her people and whose story she had told earlier.63 We have seen that very quickly a set of stock exemplars was used to characterize Joan. She is a sibyl, a prophetess, a savior of her people and in particular of the crown of France. She is like Deborah, Judith, Esther, and Penthesilea, precursors whose acts are used to justify belief in her mission. In this and in many other works, Christine had set out the lives of these precursors and brought to her audience’s attention the possibility of a prophetess and savior of the kind we find in Joan. Christine also believed in the promise of a single monarch who would bring peace to the earth below. In her Ditié her praise of Joan mingles with pronouncement that she has come to help Charles fulfill this greater calling.

NOTES 1. That they were post hoc embellishments of Joan’s divine mission is assumed by Deborah Fraioli, while Olivier Bouzy considers the possibility of both post hoc embellishment and the possibility that Joan knew of them before her departure, see Olivier Bouzy, “Prédiction ou récuperation, les prophéties autour de Jeanne d’Arc dans les premiers mois de l’année 1429,” Bulletin de l’Association des Amis du Centre Jeanne d’Arc 14 (1990), 2 and 11–12; Fraioli, The Early Debate, 55–6. 2. Little, The Parlement of Poitiers, 112. 3. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 61–2, n. 30. 4. For a general account of Joachim’s life and influence and a description of the contents of this collection see Marjorie Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the Late Middle Ages. A Study in Joachimism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969). 5. This manuscript is mentioned in Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy, 535–6, and also in Champion, La Librarie de Charles d’Orleans, 63–4. The inscription, “Karolen dux Aurelianen,” which shows Charles of Orleans’s possession, occurs at the end on f. 95v. Some of the prophecies from this manuscript are edited in Oswald Holder-Egger, “Italienische Prophetieen des 13. Jahrhunderts I,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 15 (1890), 143–86 and “Italienische Prophetieen des 13. Jahrhunderts II,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 30 (1905), 323–86. 6. A longer version was printed in Venice 1519, 1524, and Cologne 1577, see Robert Moynihan, “The development of the ‘psuedo-Joachim’ commentary ‘super Heiremiam’: new manuscript evidence,” Mélanges de l’Ecole française de Rome. Moyen-Age, Temps modernes 98 (1986): 5, note 7; Holder-Egger, “Italienische

Green_9781793613165.indb 126

15-04-2021 13:11:12

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

127

Prophetieen I,” 144; David Burr, Olivi’s Peaceable Kingdom. A Reading of the Apocalypse Commentary (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), 5–7. 7. Holder-Egger, “Italienische Prophetieen I,” 175. 8. Jules Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:324. Apparently, this was first transformed into a prophecy of the defeat of the English in 1420, Bouzy, “Prédiction ou recuperation,” 2, note 2, and then reused as a prophecy of Joan. 9. Gilbert Ouy, La librairie des frères captifs. Les manuscrits de Charles d’Orleans et Jean d’Angoulême (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 86. 10. Ouy, La librairie des frères captifs, 31. 11. Earl Jeffrey Richards, “The Lady Wants to Talk: Christine de Pizan’s Epistre a Eustach Morel,” in Eustache Deschamps, French Courtier Poet, His Work and his World (New York: AMS Press, 1998), 109–22. 12. Deschamps, Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps, 1:106. 13. Deschamps, Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps, 2:33. 14. The contents of this collection, Berne ms. 250, are described by Philippe Contamine, “Mythe et Histoire: Jeanne d’Arc, 1429” in De Jeanne d’Arc aux guerres d’Italie: Figures, images et problèmes du XVe siècle (Orleans: Paradigme, 1994), 63–76. 15. Fraioli, Joan of Arc, 108. 16. Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, edited by Liliane Dulac and Christine Reno (Paris: Champion, 2001), 41. 17. Reeves mentions that BnF Lat. 3595 is thought to have originated in Italy. 18. Ibid., xiv, note 17 and 32–3. 19. In the Sybylla Francica these earlier prophetic moments are also remembered as analogous to Joan’s appearance, see Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:436. 20. Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, 97–9. 21. Charity Cannon Willard, “Christine de Pizan: the Astrologer’s Daughter,” in Mélanges à la mémoire de Franco Simone. France et Italie dans la culture européenne (Geneva: Éditions Slatkine, 1980), 105. 22. Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, lines 259–68, 1:14–15; Willard (ed.), The Writings of Christine de Pizan, 114–15. 23. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 4:242. 24. Virgil, Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid I–VI, translated by H. Rushton Fairclough (London: Harvard University Press, 1999), 400–03 and 532–97. 25. Dante Alighieri, Monarchy, edited and translated by Prue Shaw (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) and The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno, edited by Robert M. Durling and Ronald L. Martinez (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). For a discussion of Dante’s influence on Christine see Jacqueline Broad and Karen Green, A History of Women’s Political Thought in Europe, 1400–1700 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 12–31; Karen Green, “Christine de Pizan and the Prophetic Tradition,” in Christine de Pizan. La scrittrice e la città. Christine de Pizan: L’ Ecrivaine la ville. Christine de Pizan. The Woman Writer and the City, ed. Giovana Angelli and Patrizia Caraffi (Florence: Alinea, 2013).

Green_9781793613165.indb 127

15-04-2021 13:11:12

128

Chapter 7

26. For the influence of Joachim on Dante see Marjorie Reeves, “Dante and the Prophetic View of History” in The World of Dante, edited by C. Grayson (Oxford: 1980; reprint in The Prophetic Sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe [Aldershot: Ashgate]); Marjorie Reeves, “The Third Age: Dante’s Debt to Gioacchino da Fiore,” in L’Età dello Spirito e la Fine dei Tempi in Gioacchino da Fiore. Atti del 11o Congresso internazionale di studi gioachimiti, edited by A Landi (San Giovanni in Fiore: 1986; reprint, in The Prophetic Sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe) and Frances Yates, Astraea (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975), 1–20. 27. Christine de Pizan, Le Chemin de longue etude, lines 1569–6108. 28. Gilbert Ouy and Christine Reno, “Où mène le Chemin de long estude? Christine de Pizan, Ambrogio Migli et les ambitions impériales de Louis d’Orleans,” in Christine de Pizan 2000, Studies in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, ed. J Campbell and Nadia Margolis (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000), 179–195 and 325–28. 29. Dante, Monarchia, translated by Prue Shaw, Cambridge Medieval Classics 4 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), I:11, 15; and Purgatorio, XXII, lines 70–72. Dante presents his vision for an empire of peace throughout the whole of De Monarchia, however, see De Monarchia, I:5–16, 9–29, particularly for his view that the world can be ordered to peace under one benevolent monarch as it was under Augustus. 30. Dante, Monarchia, I:11, 15. For an extended discussion of the later use of this imagery see Yates, Astraea, and for its development in Dante in particular, 8–12. See also Marjorie Reeves’s chapters, “Dante and the Prophetic View of History” and “The Third Age: Dante’s debt to Gioacchino da Fiore.” 31. For the use of the Astraea image in the ideology promoting Elizabeth, see Yates, Astraea. 32. Christine de Pizan, Othea’s Letter to Hector, 128–9. 33. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:305. Contamine, “Mythe et Histoire: Jeanne d’Arc, 1429,” describes various manuscripts in which this prophecy occurs. An English translation of the poem can be found in Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 77–8. 34. Deborah Fraioli, “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences,” Speculum 56 (1981), 820; Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate, 63–5. 35. Colette Beaune, Jeanne d’Arc (Paris: Perrin, 2004), 86–114. 36. Fraioli, “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences,” 828. 37. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:310. 38. Marcellin Fornier, Histoire générale des Alpes Maritimes ou Cottiènes, 3 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1890–92), 2:313–14, quoted by Fraioli, The Early Debate, 17. 39. Ibid., 20. 40. Doubts have been raised as to its existence, Little, The Parlement of Poitiers, 108–13. 41. Charles T. Wood, “Joan of Arc’s Mission and the Lost Record of Her Interrogation at Poitiers,” in Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996).

Green_9781793613165.indb 128

15-04-2021 13:11:13

Merlin and Sibyl and Bede

129

42. A slightly different English translation can be found in Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 72–4. 43. Philippe Contamine, “Signe, miracle, merveille, réactions contemporaines au phénomène Jeanne d’Arc” in Miracles, Prodiges et Merveilles au Moyen Âge XXVe Congrès de la S. H. E. S. (Orleans, Juin 1994) (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995), 229 draws a similar conclusion. Viriville, Chronique de Charles VII, 3:208– 11, for the description of the miraculous lifting of the siege at Orleans on the Eve of the Ascension, May 4, 1429. 44. There are however two treatises which now vie for the honor of being called “Gerson’s treatise,” while Deborah Fraioli has doubts that either was written by him, “Gerson Judging Women of Spirit,” 157–9. One, De Mirabili Victoria, dated Lyons, 1429, fourteenth day of May, has long been attributed to him; it was published in Latin by Quicherat and was produced at the rehabilitation, Procès de condemnation, 3:298–306. H. G. Francq discusses these two treatises in “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise and other Memoires in Defence of Joan of Arc,” Revue de l’Université d’Ottowa 41 (1971), 67, note 33. If the date is taken at face value, it was written just a few days after the victory at Orleans when Joan’s power and reputation was at its height. In this treatise it is claimed that her “enemies, it is assured, even their chiefs, hide, overtaken by a thousand fears. They feel languorous and failing as a woman giving birth” (62). The thought that Joan, a woman transformed into a man, has the power to transform men into women, will be repeated by Alain Chartier in his letter to a foreign prince, see Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:131–6 and Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 2: 253. The other “Gerson treatise” is De Quadam Puella attributed by Quicherat to Henry Gorkum. It has been claimed by one authority to be the real work of Gerson, Dorothy Wayman, “The Chancellor and Joan of Arc,” Franciscan Studies 17 (1957), 273–305. It is difficult to determine from the English translations that Francq has kindly provided why Wayman was so certain that De Quadam Puella was more likely to have been the true text of Gerson. It is certain that a text that Martin le Franc refers to as Gerson’s treatise, “more subtle than you think,” must have been De Mirabili Victoria. In that treatise, in order to justify the fact that Joan wears men’s clothes, Gerson suggested that the prohibitions “of the ancient law” (the Old Testament) do not “carry any obligation under the new Law,” for the “judicial precepts of the ancient Law are abrogated,” Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 63–4. Le Franc, more forthrightly, accuses those who used the Old Testament prohibition against women wearing men’s clothes of hypocrisy, for they themselves would happily eat pork or hare! Le Franc, Les Champion des Dames, lines 16948–16968. Since “Gerson’s treatise,” according to le Franc, is De Mirabili Victoria, I will make the same assumption, though the case is clearly not closed, Yelena Masour-Matusevich, “A Reconsideration of Jean Gerson’s attitude toward Joan of Arc in light of his views on popular devotion,” and Brian Patrick McGuire, “Jean Gerson, the Schulamite, and the Maid,” in Joan of Arc and Spirituality, ed. Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). For English translations of the treatises see Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 78–83 and 112–18. 45. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 62 and 64; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 81 and 83.

Green_9781793613165.indb 129

15-04-2021 13:11:14

130

Chapter 7

46. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 76; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 114. 47. Fraioli, “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences,” 813. 48. Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Ayroles, “La vénérable Jeanne d’Arc, prophétisée et prophétesse,” Revue des questions historiques 79, no. 35 (1906) and La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 1:46. 49. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 1:55–6; Delisle, “Nouveau témoinage relatif à la mission de Jeanne d’Arc,” 650–1; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 89–91. 50. Deborah Fraioli, “L’Image de Jeanne d’Arc. Que doit-elle au milieux religieux de son temps,” a paper presented at the Jenne d’Arc une époque une rayonnement. Colloque d’histoire médiévale, Paris, 1979, 193. 51. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:315. Judith et Esther, nobles dames, Et plusiers autres vaillans femmes, Par le vouloir du Dieu des Dieux, Bataillèrent pour les Hébrieux Et eurent de belles victoires, Comme nous trouvons ès histoires. Dont ainsi pour nostre querelle Batailla Jehanne la Pucelle.

52. A la Vierge tous deux Quant vous a plu tourner En Liesse nos deulx Très humblement aussy Vous en remercions.

Ibid., 5:316.

53. Fraioli, “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences,” 813. 54. Bouzy, “Prédiction ou récuperation,” 13. 55. Fraioli, “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences,” 813. 56. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 10–15. 57. These articles are reprinted in Johann Weyer, Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance: de praestigiis daemonum, translated by John Shea (Binghamton: Medieval and renaissance Texts and Studies, 1991), 576–80. 58. Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate, 209; Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 61. 59. Shirley (ed.), A Parisian Journal, 1405–49, 261. 60. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:135: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 110. 61. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 177; Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 57–8. 62. Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:1 and II:4, 100 and 104. 63. Ibid., II:30–32, 142–7.

Green_9781793613165.indb 130

15-04-2021 13:11:14

Chapter 8

The Flying Stag

And you Charles, king of the French Seventh of that high name Who had such a great battle before Good came to you at all: By God’s grace see your renown Raised higher by the Maid Who vanquished your enemies Beneath your standard (and that is a new thing). In so short time: for many believed That it would be impossible That your country, that was all but lost Would ever be recovered. Yet you see— Despite those who are noxious You have done it, you have recovered it! It was the Maid quite clearly, Thank God, who accomplished it. Yes I believe that such great grace Would not be bestowed by God If you were not, in time and space, By Him ordained To complete and achieve Some great and solemn thing And that He has destined You to be the instrument of this great feat.

131

Green_9781793613165.indb 131

15-04-2021 13:11:14

132

Chapter 8

For a king of France there must be, Named Charles son of Charles, Who will be master over all kings. In Prophecies he is called “The Flying Stag” and great things This conqueror will achieve Many feats (God has called him to) And he will become emperor. All this to the profit of your soul. I pray to God you are the one And that He grants you, without grief, Enough of life that you will see Your children grown, and great joy Brought by you and they to France! But in serving God always, No more war will make entrance. And I hope that you will be, Good, righteous and loving justice, And you will surpass all others Without pride’s tarnish Your people quiet and prosperous And fearing God, who elected you As his servant (as we must assume He has) so long as you do your duty. And how could you ever Thank God sufficiently, Serve him, owe him in all your acts, He who has delivered you, and all of France, Established peace, from such contrariance, Raised us from ruin, Whose saintly providence Has made you worthy of such great honour. Praise be to you oh God on high! To you all thanks are offered Who has made the place and time In which this good occurred. With hands clasped, great and small, We thank you celestial Lord, By whom we have arrived At peace, and out of the tempest.

Green_9781793613165.indb 132

15-04-2021 13:11:14

The Flying Stag

133

In these lines from the Ditié Joan’s appearance is linked by Christine with an old prophecy, part of the widely disseminated prophetic tradition stemming from the works of the twelfth-century Italian monk Joachim of Fiore.1 This is known as the Charlemagne prophecy. The connection between Joan and the Charlemagne prophecy appears in Christine’s poem, and implicitly in another work we will examine, the Sibylla Francica. Charles VII continued to make use of the image of the flying stag, which Christine associates with this prophecy, throughout his reign.2 Eustache Deschamps had already evoked it in a ballad written for the birth of Charles VII’s older brother of the same name, but it was in the nature of prophecy during this period to be flexible. Frequent failures of realization for old portents never seemed to dull their hopeful promise.3 Charles VII, once he successfully became king, could justifiably believe that the prophecy applied to him. The Charlemagne prophecy was originally part of a tradition of Joachimist belief in a last emperor, who would struggle with the Antichrist, later revised to apply to the French crown.4 Joachim claimed to find meaningful and repeated patterns in history, so that, for his followers, reading history became a matter of deciphering clues based on past patterns.5 As we saw, Christine mentions him by name in Christine’s Vision and drew on Dante, whose belief in the possibility of a new Golden Age, in which a single Christian monarch would bring peace and justice to the world, resonates with Joachimist aspirations.6 In the poem Long Path of Learning Christine had assumed, following Dante, that the way to achieve peace on earth is for a single monarch to govern Christendom, and she claimed to have been initiated into a prophetic understanding of the future.7 Christine’s guide, the Cumean sibyl, leads her up into the celestial firmament, where she sees for herself the harmony of the planets, and has their properties, powers, and influences explained to her.8 She then descends with her guide to the sphere of air, where she sees personified the influences and destinies of humans, which are governed by the planets and other beings in the superior spheres.9 There follows a long discourse in which Christine recounts the events to come and asserts her prophetic knowledge, and the reasons for the appearance of a comet in 1401, the significance of which, she suggests, will appear in twenty years or more.10 One Latin version of this prophecy is discussed by Maurice Chaume and dated as having been written between 1381 and 1382. In this instance it was applied to Charles VII’s father Charles VI.11 Chaume gives the full text of the late fourteenth-century version of the prophecy, which is clearly being alluded to by Christine. It concerns a French king, Charles son of Charles, who will become emperor and defeat the Turks. From the point of view of the connection with Joan and Christine’s allusion to the prophecies of Bede, it is interesting to note that one can find a version of the prophecy in the Sibyllinorum verborum interpretatio which is attributed to Bede.12 The

Green_9781793613165.indb 133

15-04-2021 13:11:15

134

Chapter 8

1381–1382 prophecy speaks of a Charles, son of Charles, crowned at fourteen years, who in the fourteenth year of his reign, would get rid of the tyrants and begin his progress toward imperial domination and Christian resurgence. Chaume points out that 100 years later, the prophecy resurfaced and was applied to Charles VIII.13 He did not notice that it had appeared in the intervening period, in Christine’s poem. In its later incarnation, the prophecy has undergone some slight mutations in order to fit the times. The emperor/ redeemer is no longer Charles son of Charles, since Charles VIII was not the son of Charles. In applying the prophecy to Charles VII, Christine was likewise reinterpreting a little to fit the times. Charles VII was indeed Charles son of Charles, but he was not crowned at fourteen years of age. However, he did become dauphin at fourteen, in 1417, at the death of his brother John of Tourraine. He was presiding over councils and meetings of the estates, as well as signing edicts, from his fourteenth year.14 He quickly assumed the title of regent. So, given the incompetence of his father, this could be deemed the beginning of his reign. Following this prophecy, it would be in 1431 to 1432 that Charles would throw the tyrants out of France and begin the illustrious career mapped out for him in the Ditié. Many have wondered about the nature of the sign Joan brought to Charles. Possibly it was at least in part the sign which was her sign—the hope that now two prophetic traditions would converge. One promised a virgin ascending on the backs of archers from an oak wood, to alleviate the nation’s ills, the other promised a “Charles son of Charles” who would relieve France of tyrants. Taken together these two traditions linked Joan and Charles and provided powerful signs of the validity of her mission. As Chaume mentions, Joan saw her mission as encompassing a crusade against the Turks, as does Christine.15 It is difficult to believe, therefore, that Joan was completely ignorant of this prophecy. Indeed, Joan refers to Charles during her trial as “Charles son of Charles King of France, who will himself be King of France” suggesting familiarity with the prophecy.16 By itself, this phrase might be passed over as too common a designation to be evidence of knowledge of the prophecy. However, Joan also asserts confidently that “before seven years are passed the English will have lost a greater stake than they did before the town of Orleans, for they will have lost all they hold in France.”17 This too echoes the Charlemagne prophecy. Christine ties the Charlemagne prophecy in with another tradition, also dating from the reign of Charles VI. This is the tradition of the “Flying Stag.” Charles VI had, it was claimed, captured a collared stag at Senlis, a stag which, improbably enough, was alleged to have existed since the time of Caesar. This collared and winged stag thereafter became one of his devices, and a powerful image of renovatio, the possibility of the restoration under Charles VI of a peaceful and united empire as promised in the works of

Green_9781793613165.indb 134

15-04-2021 13:11:15

The Flying Stag

135

Joachim.18 Philippe de Mézières had promoted this image in the Songe du vieil pélerin. In the early years of the century, Eustache Deschamps had also written prophetic poems invoking the image of the flying stag, and in his ballad 192, the prophecy is put into the mouth of the Cumean sibyl.19 I, Sibyl, prophet of Cumea, Who in twelve verses spoke of Jesus Christ, Before he had taken human form.20

Eustach Deschamps was attached to the court of Louis of Orleans, and was a particular supporter of Valentina Visconti, as well as of Christine. She speaks to him as a student to her master in her “Letter to Eustache Morel” and he returns the compliment calling her one of the nine muses.21 There is every reason to believe, therefore, that she would have known his poem outlining the sibyl’s prophecy, and the similarity between its beginning and that of her own, which opens, “I, Christine who have wept eleven years in a walled abbey,” is surely no accident.22 The beginning of these two poems is by no means common, so anyone familiar with Deschamps’s earlier poem would have easily recognized the echo of it in Christine’s latter work. In implicitly linking Christine to the sibyls, then, Martin le Franc was following an allusion already to be found in her own celebration of Joan’s exploits. In the iconography of the early fifteenth century, the imagery of the legend of Augustus, taught by the sibyl to recognize Christ and the Virgin Mary, was a powerful symbol of the possibility of the establishment of peace through the maintenance of Christian virtue. During the celebrations held for the wedding of Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria, a mystery play of Octavien and Sibylle was performed and in one of the tableaux staged for this celebration an articulated white stag played a prominent role.23 The Très Riches Heures du duc de Berri includes the image of the sibyl and Augustus praying to the Virgin, who appears in the sun, a similar image occurs in the Boucicault Hours, as well as being the last image of the fully illuminated versions of Christine’s Letter of Othea.24 The poets and chroniclers, including Christine, had been warning for years that France’s troubles were the result of the sins of the people, and that only by following God’s law could peace be restored.25 This is indeed much of the substance of both De Mirabili Victoria and De Quadam Puella. Joan does not practice magic arts. She promotes devout behavior. “The Maid and the men at arms, her followers, do not neglect the means of human prudence . . . one cannot see that they are tempting God more than is reasonable.”26 The Maid’s message is very much that the French must “live in righteousness, in pity toward God, in justice toward other people, in sobriety which is in virtue and temperance toward oneself.”27 Thus Joan’s message conforms to a literary

Green_9781793613165.indb 135

15-04-2021 13:11:15

136

Chapter 8

and prophetic paradigm well known to the court of France, and which had been promoted by Gerson, Chartier, and Christine, among others, for many years. If Joan had come to believe in the prophecies, and that some virgin, perhaps herself or some other, must arise to help fulfill them, then the urgency and timing of her mission are explained. In his deposition to the rehabilitation, Michel Lebuin claimed that on the eve of Saint John the Baptist Joan had said to him, “There is between Coussey and Vaucouleurs a young girl who before the year is out will crown the King at Reims.”28 This confirms the thought that her signs were prophecies that might, or might not, pertain to her. The moment Joan chose to appear was a particularly auspicious time for a renewal of grace, for in this year Good Friday and the day of Annunciation coincided. To celebrate this jubilee year there was a celebration at Puy-enVelay, which Joan’s mother, Isabelle Rommée attended. The fact that her mother left on a pilgrimage to this site, just after Joan left for Chinon, implies that she knew of Joan’s plans, and must have come to approve of them, despite the fact that Joan says that she left home without her parent’s permission. For while Joan was on her way to see the dauphin, her mother made her way to Puy-en-Velay and, despite the enormous crush of crowds, she there met up with some of those who had brought Joan to the dauphin, a meeting which must have been planned. Here she was introduced to Pasquerel, who was to become Joan’s personal confessor. Then Pasquerel was taken back to Tours where he was a teacher (lectour) in a monastery. After this he was with Joan continually until she was captured at Compiègne. The sacred character of Puy-en-Velay, and its connection with the tradition of the flying stag, is attested in an account of its origins found in a manuscript, BnF, fr. 2222, prepared for Charlotte of Savoy on the birth of her son Charles, who would become Charles VIII.29 According to the tradition outlined in this manuscript, the church was founded by Saint George, sent from Rome by Saint Peter, to bring Christianity to France. The site was revealed to a Christian matron and when Saint George followed her instructions, he found snow, although it was midsummer, and the shape of the altar and nave of a church, traced out by the footprints of a stag. As though these events were not sufficiently miraculous, one learns from this account that the statue of the Black Virgin, found on the altar of the church, was brought back to France by one of the earliest French kings, and is in fact an image made by the prophet Jeremiah when, while the Jews were still in Babylon, he foretold the coming of a virgin who would give birth to the son of God. Thus, not only was 1429 a time of general forgiveness of sins, when the French could hope that the punishments that they were suffering for their faults would cease. The tradition of Puy-en-Velay appears to be bound up with the pseudo-Joachimist interpretation of the Book of Jeremiah. The timing of Joan’s attempt to see the dauphin was entirely natural if she and others believed that he was to accomplish the

Green_9781793613165.indb 136

15-04-2021 13:11:16

The Flying Stag

137

things prophesied soon after 1431, fourteen years after his fourteenth year, and that with the Jubilee a propitious moment of redemption was near. It should be stressed that the early treatises, which discuss the question of whether Joan should be accepted, do not speak of her hearing voices. The question they pose is whether one should accept her as a prophet and believe that she has been sent by God, a question of discernment that had long concerned Gerson. In De Mirabili Victoria, Gerson, if he was the author, having pointed out that “the Maid is not obstinate in her own sentiments and she does not go beyond the orders and inspirations she is convinced she received from God,” says that “many circumstances of her life, since her early childhood, could be added, which have been investigated and researched for a long time by numerous people.” Sadly, he concludes this paragraph that about these “nothing more will be inserted here.”30 So we are deprived of a credible account of the signs that justified the choice of this particular young woman as the vehicle through which these prophecies would come to fruition. That there were such signs is certain. Boulainvilliers gives his version, which involves Joan’s birth on the night of the Epiphany, the crowing of cocks, and a great feeling of joy sweeping through the village.31 But this is all rather unbelievable. He is one witness who speaks of voices coming from a cloud, but this is not at all in accord with Joan’s own account of her voices, as offered at the trial. Alan Chartier speaks more ambiguously of a voice which came from heaven.32 Even here there is no mention of talking to visions. According to De Mirabili Victoria, the Maid is “surrounded by helpful angels with whom her virginity forms a link of friendship and relationship,” but these are the angels of metaphor and of sincere Christian belief—the angels who are commonly depicted surrounding saints in medieval images—and not apparitions or hallucinations.33 If Joan had merely claimed at her trial in Rouen to have had immediate inspiration from God, it would have been difficult for her accusers to have convicted her of heresy. It is only at the trial that the apparitions of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret appear on the scene. Deborah Fraioli concludes her discussion of the early debate with the comment that “we have not once come upon a reference to St. Michael, St Catherine, or St. Margaret as the ‘voices’ delivering the expression of divine will to Joan.”34 She nevertheless notes that in article 10 of the trial record it is stated that Joan informed Baudricourt of “revelations made to her by God,” “according to the command of St. Michael and of St. Catherine and St. Margaret.” She takes this as evidence that Joan in fact got her inspiration directly from God and that the saints provided “only minor quotidian council.”35 But this is a very strange way of saving Joan from having fallen into heresy, while at the same time accepting that she was directly inspired without any human encouragement. If these saints gave daily council, did they do this by means of apparitions, as

Green_9781793613165.indb 137

15-04-2021 13:11:16

138

Chapter 8

the fairy tale suggests, and as Fraioli’s research shows we have no reason to believe, or did they do so through human mediators? Joan’s comment in fact suggests that the saints are real people, whose advice she was following in understanding God’s revelation. It is under the pressure of her trial that Joan is forced, to her detriment, to offer the half-truths that turn these advisers and secret councillors into visions and voices. Early on, Joan managed to be taken seriously because she was able to draw on two traditions which had been central to Christine’s writing. The first was the tradition of the spiritually inspired woman who, in spite of, or perhaps in virtue of, her weakness, saves her people and institutes a time of peace and justice. The second was a tradition of Joachimite prophecy which both threatened punishment and brought hope of renovatio and saw the crown of France returning to its imperial Christian glory associated with Charlemagne, bringing peace to the divided realm of the empire and Christendom, and pushing back the Turkish invasions. Perhaps this is pure coincidence. Yet it is hardly believable that Joan would have been able to convince members of Charles’s council and the clerics who examined her at Poitiers to allow her to take up arms, unless she had been able to put to them arguments for her case. These surely involved an account of the signs which showed that there was reason to believe in her, and they plausibly included the biblical and prophetic tradition of a people saved by a woman, as well as the indications that the prophetic tradition indicated her time and place. They may even have involved the citation of passages from the books mentioned by Christine in her poem. It is also as a prophet, and indeed, as a new French sibyl, that Joan is depicted by the clerk of Speyer (or Spiers) who wrote the Sibylla Francica. The beginning of this treatise lists various sibyls, the Persian, Libyan, Delphic, Babylonian, Samian, and Cumean sibyls among them, citing reasons for thinking that Joan is analogous to each of them. The clerk of Speyer gives another source from Bede, De Temporibus chapter 33, for a prophecy of the Samian sibyl, which predicts a single world emperor, saying that similarly Joan predicted a single unifying monarch of France.36 Once again, this author repeats the argument that God “variously and in different ways operates through the weaker sex, and in a hidden way reveals how far in this respect the princes and rulers of the earth not trusting in the bow or the sword feel the divine power to be above them, as in need in times past of the acts of Deborah, Judith and Esther, when through the hand of a woman the victory of divine virtue was achieved.”37 The second part of the treatise responds to claims, coming out of England, that Joan is a witch. It describes cases of witchcraft in some detail, distinguishing Joan, with her orthodox doctrinal beliefs and virtuous intentions from necromancers and witches. Here, as mentioned earlier, the discussion foreshadows the arguments found in The Ladies’ Champion.38

Green_9781793613165.indb 138

15-04-2021 13:11:16

The Flying Stag

139

Ayroles berates this author for having presumed to claim that, a year earlier (in 1428), he had met a French Premonstratensian monk who claimed that Joan liked to look at the stars at night. How could this be, says Ayroles, since she was unknown the year before? However, if there were signs attached to her early life, as a number of contemporary authors claim, no doubt Joan was somewhat known in her region before she was heard of at Chinon.39 Parts of the village of Domremy had been gifted to the Premonstratensian abbey of Mureau, and the surrounding villages had complex obligations to this abbey.40 So, a Premonstratensian monk is quite likely to have known something of the inspired young prophetess from Domremy, before she left for France. This clerk of Speyer also says Joan has prophesied that Charles will reign for twenty years, and after him his son, now six years old, will reign with greater glory than any French king since Charlemagne.41 Ayroles points out that this prophecy does not come true, as it does not. However, the prophecy here attributed to Joan ties in with the Charlemagne prophecy. It is after thirtyone years that the Charles son of Charles of the prophecy related by Chaume will die.42 If, following the logic above, we take it that Charles, in 1429, was in his twelfth year of power, he has nineteen years left, which is not too far off the twenty years that Joan is claimed to have attributed to him by the clerk of Speyer. Joan claimed that she knows by revelation that the English will have been thrown out of France in seven years.43 In the Charlemagne prophecy it is claimed that from the fourteenth until the twenty-fourth year, the king will have success, subjugating the English, and finally taking over Rome. Joan’s confident prediction also fits in with her belief in some such prophecy, and is evidence that Christine is not simply adding elements to her poem which were alien to Joan’s mission as Joan saw it. Christine de Pizan’s Ditié is the earliest surviving text to link Joan’s appearance to the Charlemagne prophecy and to apply it to Charles VII. A number of chronicles reproduce the chronogram attributed to Bede, while the prophetic poem recounting the Merlin prophecy was quite widely distributed. But it is in the Ditié that we are given a full account of a prophecy that Joan might well have brought to Charles, and which would plausibly have given him some hope. Christine is alleged to have simply heard secondhand about Joan’s miraculous appearance. But if she did so, how did she come to have such authoritative knowledge of the relevant prophecies? If, indeed, she is giving us an account of the prophecies that Joan brought to the king, we have every reason to suppose that she herself may have been or have known the origin of Joan’s familiarity with them. Christine had already claimed prophetic powers in her Long Path of Learning and she had asserted that she had learned the meaning of a comet which had appeared in 1401.44 There she had set up an argument which

Green_9781793613165.indb 139

15-04-2021 13:11:17

140

Chapter 8

looked forward to a French universal emperor. Charles VII was a firm believer in the art of astrology, as his grandfather had been, and he would have been encouraged by the thought that he was to fulfill the Charlemagne prophecy. Vale, in his biography, notes Charles’s weakness for astrology and says, “To introduce a prophetess to the impressionable Charles could have been a stroke of something approaching political genius.”45 Christine believed in the prophetic tradition, she had the motivation and intelligence to have been capable of executing just such a stroke of political genius, but she would not have acted cynically, as Vale implies, but in complete faith that the prophesied time of renovatio was indeed on hand. Those who believe in the established fairy tale will argue that Christine merely added extraneous elements to the story of Joan which had no relation to Joan’s actual mission.46 But I do not think this is plausible. Joan did in fact commit herself to the project that Christine attributes to her, the desirability of a crusade against the infidel Saracens and heretic Hussites. Her early letter to the English proposes that the English give up their attacks on France and join the French in a crusade against the infidel. Joan’s crusading spirit has not been much discussed. But it seems that her voices must have told her not only about the Saracen threat but also predisposed her to allow her name to be used in the letter written by her confessor Pasquerel, warning the Hussites that she might turn her crusading spirit against them.47 Charles VII quickly adopted the image of the flying stag, and it was used throughout his reign as part of his iconography. When he finally entered Rouen in 1449, he was greeted by a white “flying” stag with a gold collar, led by two girls.48 All these images come together in the anonymous Ballade du Sacre de Reims, which celebrates the coronation of Charles VII: See the coming of the noble Flying Stag, See the coming of the second Charlemagne49

It contains in the envoi the words of the French battle cry: “all loyal hearts will say aloud, Our Lady, Montjoye, Saint Denis.” A year after the triumphant coronation of Charles at Reims the English attempted to establish the legitimacy of Henry VI’s claim to be recognized King of France by bringing him to Paris to be crowned. Great care was taken in the production of pageants to welcome the child king. One display, which the English must have found particularly amusing, depicted a stag-hunt. This allusion to the French claimant to the throne can hardly have gone unnoticed. On this occasion the English brought with them a prisoner: a shepherd boy who had been discovered by the French chancellor of Reims, Renault de Chartres, and whom he had attempted, for a brief time, to present as a substitute for Joan, by this time burned at Rouen. This rather sad incident is

Green_9781793613165.indb 140

15-04-2021 13:11:17

The Flying Stag

141

significant for Joan’s history. For it shows that the French nobles were not averse to promoting mystics, who could be used as evidence of God’s favor to the French cause. Renault de Chartres’s advancement of this young man looks simply cynical. By contrast, Joan appears to have been imbued with a genuine mission from God. However, this appearance may simply be the effect of the young shepherd boy’s lack of success relative to Joan’s considerable achievements. It may also be the result of the fact that Joan’s advisers genuinely believed in the prophecies that she was to help bring to fruition, and that the momentous coincidence subjects and dates suggested by the Merlin passages, the Bede chronogram, the Joachite verses on the Antichrist, the Charlemagne prophecy, and the jubilee of the Virgin provided powerful arguments which, while they did not entirely convince the Council of Poitiers to believe in her, were strong enough for them to agree that she should not be rejected. In the first chapters of this book I noted various family connections between Christine de Pizan’s patrons and Joan of Arc’s companions. In the last two chapters, a reading of Christine’s Ditié has uncovered a different kind of connection, one between Christine’s beliefs and Joan’s mission. The prophecies, to which Christine alludes, actually seem to indicate the dates when Joan appeared, and Joan and other contemporaries acknowledge these prophecies and dates. Her appearance also coincides with a jubilee of the Virgin, when it might well have been believed by pious individuals, such as Louis of Vendôme and Christine de Pizan, that the Virgin’s intercession could be expected. In the next chapter we will see that another contemporary text looked forward to the fulfillment of a new age as predicted by Joachim. I would not have realized this had it not been for the hints that I found in The Ladies’ Champion. In reading the first book of Martin le Franc’s poem, I noted two graves in the illumination of the cemetery of the chapel of Love which seemed to refer back to members of a previous generation who had been devoted to the process of defending women, peace, and love—a process represented by le Franc as culminating in the peace of Arras. One of these graves was Christine de Pizan’s, the other was that of la belle dame sans merci, the poetical creation of Alain Chartier, the young poet and friend of Christine’s son Jean Castel, and author of one of the surviving letters concerning Joan. One of his treatises contains an odd premonition of Joan’s appearance, and his career, it turns out, may help explain Joan’s interest in the Hussites. It is time then to learn more of Alain Chartier. NOTES 1. Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the Late Middle Ages, in particular pages 295–331 for the origins of the Charlemagne prophecy and some of its later political uses.

Green_9781793613165.indb 141

15-04-2021 13:11:17

142

Chapter 8

2. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 109. 3. Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII, 1:2–3. 4. Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the late Middle Ages, 320–31. 5. Marjorie Reeves, Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future (London: SPCK, 1976). 6. Christine de Pizan, Christine’s Vision, translated by Glenda K. McLeod (New York: Garland, 1993), 34; Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, I:23, 41. For the influence of Joachim on Dante see Marjorie Reeves, “Dante and the Prophetic View of History”; “The Third Age: Dante’s Debt to Gioacchino da Fiore”; Yates, Astraea, 1–20. 7. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude, lines 1125–38, 3040–66. 8. Ibid., lines 1785–852. 9. Ibid., lines 2060–140. 10. Ibid., lines 2142–203. 11. Maurice Chaume, “Une prophétie relative à Charles VI,” Revue de Moyen Age Latin 3 (1947), 27–42. 12. Ibid., 37. The prophecy can be found in Sibyllinorum verborum interpretatio, Migne Patrologia Latina 90, 1182–4. The actual prophecy referred to by Chaume occurs at the bottom of page 1183 and begins, “Et post haec surget rex Salicus de Francia, per K nomine; ipse erit magnus et piissimus.” 13. Ibid., 31. Yates, Astraea, 20–28 shows that as late as 1519, when Charles V inherited the imperial title, the idea that a new Charlemagne might bring peace to Europe was alive and well. 14. Vale, Charles VII, 27. 15. Chaume, “Une prophétie relative à Charles VI,” 36; Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc. Her story, 250. 16. Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 122. 17. Ibid., 84. 18. Michael Bath, The Image of the Stag: Iconographic themes in Western Art (Baden Baden: verlag Valentin Koerner, 1982), 66–70. 19. Ibid., 79–85. 20. Je, Sebile, prophete, la Cumayne, Qu’en .xii. vers parlay de Jhesu Crist Par avant ce qu’il preist char humaine En la Vierche qui nostre rachat fist, Et fut tout voir ce que ma bouche dist. Aussi sera la clause derreniere Des corps lever, vueil reciter mon dit Du cerf volant a la teste legiere. Apres le temps qu’en la haie foraine Yert du sanglier le lyon desconfit, Prins et mené devers la Grand Bretaigne Et que chacuns ara Gaule en despit, Yert l’asne blanc saiges par son edit Ses pastures recouvra arriere Sur le sanglier, lors vendra le proufit

Green_9781793613165.indb 142

15-04-2021 13:11:18

The Flying Stag

143

Du cerf volant a la teste legiere. Sur les froumis aura vivtoire plaine Ains .xiiii. ans ou lac plain de delit, Lors destruira mainte beste villaine Et regnera mieulx qu’onques cerfs ne fist, Et conquerra pluseurs bestes, s’il vit; L’asne pesant querra en sa bruriere Qui se rendra pour la peur fuitif Du cerf valant a la teste legiere. Deschamps, Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps, 2:9–10.

21. Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan, 109–13; Deschamps, Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps, 2:91; Pizan, Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 2:293–301; Richards, “The Lady Wants to Talk: Christine de Pizan’s Epistre a Eustach Morel.” 22. Je, Christine, qui ay plouré XI ans en abbaye close,

Christine de Pizan, Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc, 28. 23. Bath, The Image of the Stag, 93 and 98–100. 24. Ibid., 73; Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries (London: Phaidon, 1974), 139–41. 25. Mireille Chazan, “Conclusions,” Cahiers de recherches Mediévales et Humanistes 24 (2012). 26. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 62; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 81. 27. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 63: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 81. 28. E. O’Reilly, Les Deux Procès de Condamnation les Enquètes et la sentence de Réhabilitation de Jeanne d’Arc (Paris: Henri Plon, 1868), 1.177. 29. BnF, fr. 2222 contains “l’histoire translatée de latin en françois de la fondation et du lieu miraculeux de ceste sainte eglise et singuliere oratoire de Nostre Dame de Puy.” P. Margetit-Bremond, Le Puy et ses Environs (Le Puy: 1920) also contains a version of this story. 30. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 62: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 81. 31. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 2: 242. 32. Ibid., 2:252. 33. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 64. 34. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 196–7. 35. Ibid., 197. 36. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 3:425–6. 37. Ibid., 3:427–8. I am grateful to my father, the late Louis Green, for providing this translation. 38. Very soon after her appearance, two possible interpretations of Joan as either miraculous divine envoy or sorceress were circulating, see Contamine, “Signe, miracle, merveille,” 235–9.

Green_9781793613165.indb 143

15-04-2021 13:11:18

144

Chapter 8

39. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 1:73. 40. Pierre Marot, “Etudes sur l’abbaye de Mureau,” Bulletin trimestriel de la Société d’émulation des Voges 4 (1923), 40–52; “Etudes sur l’abbaye de Mureau (suite),” Bulletin trimestriel de la Société d’émulation des Voges 5 (1924), 72–83. 41. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:465. 42. Chaume, “Une prophétie relative à Charles VI,” 28. 43. Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 4:46, Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 84. 44. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude, 2142–203. 45. Vale, Charles VII, 50. 46. Fraioli, “L’Image de Jeanne d’Arc,” 196. 47. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:156–9: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 132–3. 48. Bath, The Image of the Stag, 100. 49. Ibid., 119: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 96–8.

Green_9781793613165.indb 144

15-04-2021 13:11:18

Chapter 9

Chartier’s Hope

So put down your horns you English You will never catch your game! Leave off your French sorties! You are checked indeed you are mated, You would never have thought it earlier, When you liked to seem so dangerous, But then you had not yet trod the path Where God strikes down the vainglorious. You thought you had won France, And she would be yours forever. Go away false people, Take your drums hither If you don’t want to taste Death, like your companions Who lie food for wolves, Dead among the furrows. And know that by her the English Will be subdued forever, For God desires it, so say the good People they would have devoured. The blood of those who won’t rise again Cries out. God will no longer Suffer it, without punishing Their evil, that is evident.

145

Green_9781793613165.indb 145

15-04-2021 13:11:18

146

Chapter 9

To Christendom and the Church She will bring concord. She will destroy miscreants And heretics of foul life, For this is recorded In the prophecy that predicted her, And she will have no mercy On places that besmirch God’s faith. The Saracens she’ll make bow down, In conquering the Holy Land, Where she will lead Charles, God preserve! Before he dies he must go there. It by him must be conquered. Where she must complete her life, And glory for both acquired. Then the thing will be achieved. So above all the nobles past, It is she who should wear the crown, For these deeds show well enough That God has given her more Prowess than others that are discussed. And she has not yet all perfected! Yes I believe God gives her below So that she can peace bestow. Yes it is not just the task at hand To destroy Evil-England, For she has elsewhere a greater goal It is that faith should not go stale. As for the English, who laughs Who cries, it can’t be doubted. In future times they will be Mocked. Down and outed.

We have seen in the previous chapters how Joan strode into a role that had been prepared for her by those works of Christine and others which drew on a tradition of historical interpretation and prophecy. In these lines from the Ditié Christine spells out how Joan will restore the church and Christian faith. They also claim that part of her mission is to take Charles to the Holy Land, where together they will defeat the Saracens, thus fulfilling the potential of

Green_9781793613165.indb 146

15-04-2021 13:11:18

Chartier’s Hope

147

the Charlemagne prophecy. In some of the surviving versions of her defiant, Letter to the English, dated March 22, 1429, Joan suggests that if the English recognize Charles as the true heir of France and join her company, they may do the fairest deed ever done for Christianity.1 In this chapter we will look at another text, written slightly earlier, by Alain Chartier, which hints that a savior of France will soon appear. In reading The Ladies’ Champion, we saw that le Franc alluded to “la belle dame sans merci,” placing her in the cemetery of love, obliquely remembering and praising Alain Chartier, author of a poem of this name. Le Franc also said of Christine that he could not praise her enough without sighs, regrets, and cries and neither could those who were able to serve the gay prince of love. This reference, like his allusion to “la belle dame sans merci,” refers us back to a historical court of love, set up at the beginning of 1400 by the dukes of Burgundy and Bourbon. This court was established to promote chivalrous praise of women, and was effectively a monthly poetry competition. In the year prior to its establishment, Christine had penned her Letter to the God of Love in which she made her first major assault against men who malign women, and where she describes the loyal love and gratitude that men ought to bear their mothers, wives, and sisters. Le Franc’s introduction of the God of Love at the beginning of his poem is thus a further allusion to Christine’s oeuvre. Despite a short respite in the war with England, during Richard II’s reign, the turn of the century was a time of plague and mounting concern due to Charles VI’s “indispositions.” In order to bring some pleasure into their lives, and in an evocation of a past time of chivalry, the dukes of Burgundy (Philip the Bold) and Bourbon (Louis II), with the approval of Charles VI, instituted a “court of love” to celebrate the new century. This court met first on Saint Valentine’s Day 1400 and was to meet on the first Sunday of each month thereafter, at the residence of one of the members, as designated at the previous meeting. Its purpose was to exchange poems in praise of women and of love. The best poems were to be awarded prizes, and the whole was presided over by an elected Prince of Love. Many of the foremost knights of the period are listed as having belonged to this court, which continued to function even after the dauphin Charles had fled Paris.2 In the armorials associated with it, Charles VI was the first named member, Philip of Burgundy next, followed by Louis of Bourbon, Louis of Bavaria, Pierre of Navarre, and Jean of Bourbon, Louis of Bourbon’s eldest son, the husband of Mary of Berry.3 Many of the actors in our drama belonged to this association. Among it were Jean II le Meingre, Raoul Gaucourt, and Charles d’Albret, members of the Order of the Green Shield, with the White Lady (l’Ordre de l’escu vert à la dame blanche) praised by Christine, which will be discussed further in the next chapter. Louis of Vendôme and his brother Jacques II de la Marche were

Green_9781793613165.indb 147

15-04-2021 13:11:19

148

Chapter 9

also members.4 Even Hémon Raguier, who had previously been Isabeau of Bavaria’s argentier and had joined Charles as his treasurer by 1418, had been a member of this vast association.5 As an adult, Christine’s son Jean Castel would also join the assembly.6 In some form this court of love survived the exile of the dauphin Charles from Paris, and there exists a somewhat humorous account of Alain Chartier being expelled from it at Issoudon.7 Some ladies felt that Chartier had misrepresented them in La belle dame sans merci and in Chartier’s response to these charges Jean Castel, Christine de Pizan’s son, is named as a judge who will try the case.8 Alain Chartier’s poem was extremely popular, and generated numerous responses and imitations. As we saw, le Franc describes the “belle dame” preserved in the cemetery of love, lying in a tomb of crystal. This is an implicit reply to one of these responses, in which she had been consigned to a graveyard for false lovers.9 Along with the reference to “la belle dame sans merci” there are a number of other allusions to Alain Chartier in le Franc’s poem. In arguing that not all women should be judged evil because of the sins of a few, le Franc points out how different Alain was to Jean de Meun, author of the second part of Romance of the Rose, and a little later Alain’s authority is again appealed to.10 Women are accused of leading men astray with their enticing glances, but le Franc quotes a line from La belle dame sans merci where Alain has his belle dame say, “What are women to do with their eyes, since eyes are made for looking?” At two places further on in le Franc’s poem the knight is encouraged to read often Alain Chartier’s Breviaire des Nobles, a handy guide to true chivalric behavior.11 Alain Chartier, like Christine de Pizan’s son, was a secretary to Charles VII. He had been educated in Paris and was perhaps ten years younger than Jean Castel. Alain’s vernacular poems follow in the same tradition as Christine’s and treat of many of the same themes: the current corruption of the court, and the need for a revival of true chivalric virtue, if peace is to be attained. One of his poems, Le Lay de Paix, is addressed to the princes of the fleur-de-lis, by whose fault peace has been exiled from France. It was in all likelihood presented to Philip of Burgundy during Chartier’s embassy to Philip in Bruges, in April 1426. It begs Philip to adopt the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness that he finally accepted at Arras. This poem is alluded to in the satirical Lay de Guerre written by Pierre de Nesson, an employee of Mary of Berry. Nesson’s poem was dedicated to Philip of Burgundy in about 1429. It is the source of the humorous claim that Chartier had been expelled from the court of love. However, since the Lay de Guerre involves a satirical attack on Chartier, the wicked advocate of peace, who has been undermining war’s success, it is clear that this account of Chartier’s banishment cannot be taken too seriously.

Green_9781793613165.indb 148

15-04-2021 13:11:19

Chartier’s Hope

149

The allusions to Alain Chartier in le Franc’s poem are not just allusions to a poet in the tradition of Christine de Pizan and a member of the court of love, that is to say an advocate of loyalty and chivalry. They are also allusions to someone who had been intimately involved with Charles’s royal chancellery, who had composed and copied letters on his behalf at many times of crisis, and who had been entrusted with the diplomatic process of making peace between Charles VII and the duke of Burgundy.12 In 1426 Chartier had been sent by Charles VII on a diplomatic mission intended to foster better relations between the two courts. He undertook the mission with Georges de la Trémouïlle and met with Philip, in Bruges, sometime in April, but this peace effort was not successful.13 Earlier, in December 1424, credentials were drawn up to send Chartier and Artaud de Granval, the abbot of Saint Antoine of Vienne, as ambassadors to the Emperor Sigismund in Hungary. The next year Granval and Chartier were in Venice. The chronology of these expeditions is not entirely clear, since Chartier was in Hungary in July 1425.14 He was in Venice on May 3 and in all probability in Rome at sometime during 1425. On these missions his role was that of orator. His orations in favor of peace and unity used many images previously evoked by Christine in her treatises to the same end. Like her, he describes a country riven with civil war as like a madman who tears at himself with his own teeth.15 He also cites both the Sabine women and Queen Clotilde as important examples of the way in which peace can be brought about, just as Christine had done.16 Chartier’s last diplomatic mission was to Scotland in 1428, where he was engaged to secure the hand of Margaret of Scotland for Louis, Charles’s infant son. At sometime during 1429 Chartier died in Avignon, and the last surviving work attributed to him is the letter, concerning Joan and her exploits, written to a foreign prince.17 This, however, may not have been the first work that he had written to advertise Joan. In his Treatise on Hope (Traité de l’Esperance) written in 1428, ten years after the beginning of his “exile” from Paris, Chartier had a fascinating premonition of Joan’s appearance. An important French expert on medieval poetry, Pierre Champion, recognized that in this poem Chartier announced Joan’s arrival before she had appeared, as does Philip Contamine.18 The longer title of the treatise is Hope, or the Consolation of the Three Virtues, that Is to Say, Faith, Hope and Charity (L’Esperance ou Consolation des trois vertus, c’est à savoir Foy, Esperance et Charité). Like Christine’s Vision, and like the beginning of the City of Ladies, this Consolation owes a good deal to Boethius. It describes the miserable condition to which France has been reduced—the corruption of her nobility, the servitude of her people, the desolation of her fields. The author relates how, in the tenth year of his sad exile, after many years of mourning and misery, three horrible hags come to

Green_9781793613165.indb 149

15-04-2021 13:11:20

150

Chapter 9

visit him. They are lack of faith, despair, and indignation (deffiance, desesperance, and indignation). Despair points out the vanity of this brief life and suggests that suicide may be the only way out of his desperate situation. She gives examples such as Cato, who killed himself at Utica, Mythradites, and even Lucrecia and Dido to argue that sometimes it is nobler to take one’s own life than to continue living. But, faced with the prospect of death, nature begins to shake and shudder in terror, and so stirs the author’s nerves, veins, and muscles that his understanding is woken. Understanding, once roused from sleep, begins her appointed task of protecting the author from diabolical temptation. Like Boethius’s philosophy, she begins to work on the author’s memory. With a great deal of difficulty, she pulls open the shutters of his mind, the hinges of which are all rusted over. Three ladies, who had long been kept out, enter with “a gentle good-looking young maid” (“une débonnaire et bien encontenancée damoiselle”).19 The three ladies are Faith, Hope, and Charity, but the gentle young lady is neither identified nor does she reappear in the texts that survive. Chartier’s work appears to be unfinished, since Faith and Hope speak for a long time, but Charity remains silent. Despite the fact that we are not told who the young woman is, Chartier’s poem is pregnant with the hope of renovatio promised by Joan. Faith tells him that there is no heart so hard nor so unbelieving that it is not enraptured by the mystery of Christian faith through which a humble preacher can overcome the majesty of kings, and simple ignorant people have confounded subtle philosophers, tender virgins and frail women vanquished the felony of tyrants.20 As Champion says, one cannot help but think of Joan, in reading these words. Even, James Laidlaw, an extremely sober and highly regarded scholar, admits that, were he a novelist, he would not fail to identify this “débonnaire” young woman with Joan, but, trained as he has been in circumspection, and a tradition which is wary of hypotheses, he demurs.21 Nevertheless, given Christine’s Penthesilea/Charity, evoked in those passages of le Franc’s poem that led us to consider the role of Alain Chartier, it must seem overwhelmingly likely, even to someone who is not a novelist, that Chartier was already hinting at Joan’s existence and immanent arrival sometime before she appeared.22 In the continuation of this work, Chartier’s Hope holds out the prospect of just the sort of miraculous reversal of fortune that Joan offered. As one might expect, the longest part of Hope, or Consolation of the Three Virtues is a discourse on hope. Foolish hope may be disappointed, but once one recognizes God’s divine power and sees that even out of bad fortune, good can come, one has the basis for sensible hope. The allegorical figure of Hope gives many examples of people, who have been conquered and oppressed, who are nevertheless saved, and who are afterward stronger and more law abiding than before. Mattathius, father of Judas Maccabeus, and their people were exiled during the persecution of the Jewish people by

Green_9781793613165.indb 150

15-04-2021 13:11:20

Chartier’s Hope

151

Antiochus, yet though exiled from Jerusalem, and armed only with devotion and good hope, they delivered their country, reestablished their laws, and drove out the tyrants. Similarly, Deborah rose in hope among the people of Israel, and despite the doubts of Barrat, who was then their leader, she triumphed against Israel’s persecutors. Gideon is also cited here as an example from which the persecuted can take hope. Chartier has thus anticipated three of the examples that will soon be used to justify Joan’s mission. In citing the story of Deborah, he even adopts the relatively rare spelling “Delbora” also found in De Quadam Puella and in Christine’s works.23 Having cited the biblical examples of a people persecuted but saved through God’s justice, Chartier gives examples of the impermanence of conquest, and shows how often it is that invaders, who initially appear invincible, are ultimately routed, murdered, or betrayed. He then turns to more recent cases that give reason for hope. Remember, he says, how Charles of Anjou brought peace and stability to Sicily when it was troubled by Manfroy and Corradin. Similarly in Castille, when Don Pedro called himself king, and his people suffered at the hands of the English and Africans, divine justice was restored by the knights of France.24 Here Chartier is recalling the incident in the life of du Guesclin, which we outlined earlier, a victory that was the subject of a prophecy of Merlin just as Joan’s appearance was claimed to have been. Having been given these examples of God’s grace in punishing wicked rulers, as well as other examples from the history of France, Chartier’s character Understanding asks Hope how one can deserve to expect victory over a cruel invader. Hope’s answer is, through prayer. Understanding raises two problems with this. Both sides to every conflict will pray to God, moreover, since God is omniscient, prayer cannot be effective. But Hope assures Understanding that God will bring about what is best, so that, in effect, the prayers of those who are most deserving will be fulfilled, in the manner that is in their best interests. She assures the author that while God’s omniscience is mysterious, his knowledge of the contingent outcome of prayer does not imply predestination.25 Understanding moves on to give examples of the efficacy of prayer. Clovis, Lothaire, Dagobert, and Charlemagne are witnesses to the fact that those kings who have dedicated most churches, and thus encouraged prayer, were also the most successful.26 Prayer and legitimate sacrifice, which is living within the demands of Christian morality, are the means to deserve the aid from God for which the faithful hope. So, Chartier’s treatise, apparently written sometime during the year before Joan was known, already contains surprising anticipations both of her appearance and of the message that she brought with her. Moreover, in this treatise Chartier explicitly refers to the prophecies of Joachim and their relevance for France.27 Following Joachim, he represents the Old Testament as the symbolic precursor of the New Testament:

Green_9781793613165.indb 151

15-04-2021 13:11:20

152

Chapter 9

The Old Testament proposes, The New proves and exposes. On the broad text clear glosses. One promises, announces and disposes: The other satisfies and reposes . . . And when the assigned fruits Which are clearly predestined By prophets designed Beneath figures obscured Now determined Opened and enlightened Disclosed and unobscured.28

Chartier’s Hope, or Consolation of the Three Virtues, foretells the fulfillment of prophecies, which come to fruition with Joan. Thus, Chartier’s treatise offers both a premonition of Joan’s appearance and explicitly looks forward to the fulfillment of Joachim’s prophecies. His encouragement of prayer as the means of deserving deliverance by divine means is echoed in the Poitiers conclusion, which refers to “the prayers of the people” raising their voices in hope of victory and a sign from God. Surely then, Chartier knew of Joan’s existence before she set out from Domremy and was paving the way for her mission. When that mission failed, Jacques Gelu, who had at first been so suspicious of the young woman, wrote to Charles VII asking him to question himself lest some offense of his should have been the cause of the apparent reversal of God’s grace.29 By this time even this sober prelate had decided that it was reasonable to believe that God had sent the French people a sign of his grace, as Chartier’s Hope, or Consolation of the Three Virtues, had indicated he might. There is, moreover, evidence that Joan knew something of Chartier’s activities before she left Domremy. When Joan turned up at Vaucouleurs in her red dress during February 1429, it was, by some accounts, the second time that she had appeared there, and she had some difficulty making Baudricourt and his friends take her seriously. She is reported to have made the following speech to Jean de Nouillonpont: I came here to the king’s chamber [that is into royal territory] to speak to Robert de Baudricourt so that he would either bring me or have me brought to the king, but he pays no attention to me or to my words; nevertheless, it is important that I be at the king’s side before mid-Lent arrives, even if it means I have to walk until my feet are worn down to my knees; there is in fact no one else, neither a king nor a duke nor the daughter of the king of Scotland, nor any other who can recover the kingdom of France, and he will have no help, if not through me, even though I would prefer to stay home and spin wool with my poor mother,

Green_9781793613165.indb 152

15-04-2021 13:11:21

Chartier’s Hope

153

for this is my proper station, but I must go and I must do it, because my lord wills that I do so.30

From this speech it is clear that Joan knew about the overtures being made at that very time by Alain Chartier to the King of Scotland for the hand of his daughter.31 This implies that she had knowledge of current diplomatic negotiations, and one is forced to wonder how she could have acquired it, in this time before newspapers, when information was scarce. It is true that Domremy was not then quite the isolated village that it now appears, since it was close to the junction of two old roads, a roman road bringing travelers from the west, and another that was an important path from Langres in the south, to Verdun, and on to Brussels in the north. Joan’s home was situated right next to a bridge over the Meuse that travelers along this north/south road would automatically cross. Given his likely itineraries on the diplomatic excursions in which he was involved, this makes quite possible some mutual acquaintance between Alain Chartier and Joan’s immediate associates, which would then explain her surprising knowledge of these negotiations. One might even wonder, given that her mother was called “Isabelle Rommée,” suggesting that she had undertaken a pilgrimage to Rome, whether Joan’s mother might not have met Chartier at a time when they were both on the road to Rome. But here we are descending into pure speculation, since there is no way of knowing when Joan’s mother made her pilgrimage. It is, nevertheless, worth remarking that Chartier’s visit there coincides with the period when Joan first began to hear her voices. Following the imagery evoked by le Franc in his poem The Ladies’ Champion we have been led, via the evocation of Penthesilea/Charity, the beguine abbess of the chapel of love, and the tomb of “la belle dame sans merci,” to the works of Alain Chartier. In his treatise, Hope, or Consolation of the Three Virtues, we find not only a promise of God’s impending charity but an anticipation of the deliverance of the French people through the fulfillment of Joachim’s prophecies, which were also promoted by Christine. Surely le Franc meant his reader to follow this trail of association. Just prior to his praise of Christine, where he also mentions Alain Chartier, le Franc complains that the French have not sufficiently praised their wise and noble compatriots, and he represents himself as rectifying this so that while death may hide her body her name will live on.32 Another detail of Joan’s history is illuminated if we assume some acquaintance with Chartier. On his diplomatic mission to Sigismund in Hungary, Chartier preached against the Bohemian heretics the Hussites. Joan too was concerned about the Hussites and allowed (or perhaps encouraged) her confessor to write to them on her behalf.33 This interest is inexplicable unless people associated with had told her about these heretics and aroused her

Green_9781793613165.indb 153

15-04-2021 13:11:21

154

Chapter 9

interest in them. Le Franc’s hints have led us to an explanation of an otherwise inexplicable interest and led us as well to an anticipation both of Joan’s appearance and of the sorts of the examples that would soon be used to validate belief in her mission. On the other side of the channel, another poet was expressing similar sentiments to those developed in Chartier’s treatise. Imprisoned at Bolingbroke, Charles of Orleans—with regard to whom Joan said she had had more revelations than any man except King Charles—also expressed in his “Complaint” the hope that the Virgin would intercede on behalf of a morally reformed France.34 He lamented how the very Christian realm of France (le trescrestien, franc royaume de France) had fallen into distress through pride, gluttony, laziness, and greed, and was being punished for its lechery and lack of justice. He reminded France of God’s great mercy, to be deserved through humility, and called on her to remember how she used to call out “Montjoye” in happiness and how the Oriflamme was sent to overcome her enemies. God’s arms, he says, are open to welcome the penitent, who gives up the life of sin, to which end the Virgin Mary will offer her assistance. Charles finished with the hope that, before he is old, peace would come, and all evils would terminate for his very Christian realm of France. So, one might suppose that Charles of Orleans had been informed of the signs of God’s grace emerging on the borders of France. After his return from England the collection of Joachim’s prophecies in BnF, Lat. 3319 and BnF, Lat. 13428, containing the prophetic interpretation of the Book of Jeremiah, his interpretation of the sibylline and Merlin prophecies and verses on the Antichrist, as discussed in chapter 7, was to be found in Charles’s library. Yet Charles of Orleans’ relationship to Joan is obscure. He never explicitly mentions her, and despite the fact that she names him as a subject of her revelations, he remains surprisingly lacking in gratitude for her feats. An explanation for his silence concerning Joan has recently been published.35 As early as 1427, he had been considering the possibility of peace with England on the basis of the recognition of the Treaty of Troyes and acceptance of the English claim to the French crown. A letter from Jean of Armagnac, Charles’s brother-in-law, shows that this course of action was envisaged, and that at least some of the French princes would have been happy to forsake Charles VII for the sake of securing their release and an end to the war. After Joan’s death, Charles of Orleans continued to consider abandoning the French claim to the crown and to negotiate with the English for peace on terms that were prejudicial to Charles VII. Given this background, Charles’s silence might be put down to embarrassment conditioned by the contrast between his own duplicity and Joan’s simple faith in her king. Charles would have been equally embarrassed had he known that a group of women had shown more valor and initiative on behalf of the crown of France than he himself had been able to muster.

Green_9781793613165.indb 154

15-04-2021 13:11:21

Chartier’s Hope

155

It is well known that from his exile Charles of Orleans found solace in crafting poems directed toward one or more peerless ladies, who had captured his love, one of whom died, according to some, around 1435. In 1420 when the duke of Bourbon was given leave to return to France for a time, in order to arrange his affairs, Charles sent him a poem, in which he asks him to speak on his behalf to his lady who awaits him in France.36 It is thought that this lady must be Bonne of Armagnac, Charles’s second wife, whom he married, in 1411, when she was a child of eleven. The young Bonne of Armagnac seems to have left almost no historical traces, which has led some to speculate that she had died before Charles sent his letter. Champion says that once Charles was captured, she retired to be near her mother at Castelnau-de-Montmirail, not far from Rodez, near the Pyrenees, but he does not provide any substantial evidence for this.37 Those who doubt Bonne’s survival think that the lady who died, the subject of Charles’s poetry, was not his second wife, but his first wife, Isabelle of France, who had died in 1410. But the poem to Jean of Bourbon indicates that Charles loved some living lady in France, whose loyalty he trusted and who might be expected to have done what she could to secure his return.38 As we saw, Martin le Franc, writing from the perspective of Savoy, asks rhetorically what could the duchesses do against their powerful enemies? Bonne of Armagnac, were she alive, was another duchess, with links to the house of Savoy, for whom this question must have loomed large. But her whereabouts and activities during this period are completely unknown. Nevertheless, a further odd coincidence is worth noting. In the second last chapter of this work, and still following the trajectory of le Franc’s poem, our attention will be drawn to the connections that Joan had with the Franciscans. Foremost among the spiritually inspired Franciscans of this time was Colette of Corbie, an abbess and founder of many reformed convents of the Poor Clares, who had relations with almost all the noblewomen to whom our attention has been directed. She was particularly closely connected, not only with Amadeus VIII of Savoy but also with Jacques II de La Marche, who spent the last years of his life as one of her devotees, as did two of his daughters. The only one of his daughters to marry, Élenore, was the wife of Bernard VIII of Armagnac, count of Pardiac, Bonne of Armagnac’s brother. Coincidently, one of Bonne of Armagnac’s other sisters, Anne of Armagnac, was married to Charles II d’Albret, a close companion in arms of Joan. And at this period when the family of his wife were turning their attention toward the Franciscans, Charles of Orleans was also in close contact with English members of this order. From the beginning of 1429 until 1432 Charles of Orleans and his brother were entrusted to the care of Sir John Cornwall and spent some part of their time in London.39 During this period they came into contact with Thomas Wynchelsey, professor of theology at Greyfriars, who provided Charles with

Green_9781793613165.indb 155

15-04-2021 13:11:22

156

Chapter 9

access to volumes from the Franciscan’s library (one of which he never returned).40 Charles reciprocated this generosity by providing Wynchelsey with works of Gerson, somehow acquired from France, by means that remain obscure. Nevertheless, it seems certain that, soon after Gerson’s death, Gerson’s younger brother sent Charles and Jean a draft of an early manuscript of his brother’s writing, as a relic, as it were, of the old chancellor, who had always supported their cause. So, we can assume that the Franciscans provided a conduit through which Charles of Orleans could communicate with France. Charles may never have spoken openly of Joan, but their mutual contact with the Franciscans opens the possibility of a secret correspondence concerning her. Jacques II de La Marche, as well as being deemed the spiritual “son” of Colette, gave generous endowments to the abbey of Saint Antoine of Vienne the abbot of which, Artaud de Granval was Chartier’s companion on his diplomatic mission to Venice and Hungary.41 Artaud oversaw the construction of a chapel at Saint Antoine, paid for by Jacques II de La Marche and dedicated to him. Given the generosity that Jacques had shown toward his abbey in 1423 it seems likely that Artaud de Granval would have kept in contact with him, and it is not implausible that while on their diplomatic travels Artaud and Alain met up with Jacques, during this period residing in Savoy. While in Savoy, Jacques spent at least some of his time in the company of his old companion in arms from Nicopolis, Humbert, bastard of Savoy, who, we earlier surmised, was the imprisoned lover referred to in Christine’s Tale of Poissy.42 These men, when they were young, had been swept up by the crusading spirit, and in old age turned to the Franciscan spirituality, which Joachim had seen as ushering in an age of peace. Among the fabulous stories told about Joan is the story of the sword, found behind the altar of Saint Catherine de Fierbois. It is to this story that we shall now turn, for it serves to connect the symbolism of Joan’s mission to the expedition to Nicopolis, via its reference to Jean II le Meingre, called Boucicault, a somewhat older companion of Jacques II de La Marche. In the last years of the fourteenth century, Jean II le Meingre, Charles I d’Albret (the father of Charles II d’Albret), Raoul de Gaucourt, and others had formed a knightly order, highly praised by Christine, which provides us with another link to connect those involved in Joan’s story and the milieu in which Christine moved.43

NOTES 1. Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 71; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 1:241, 5:96–8. 2. Arthur Piaget, “La Cour Amoureuse Dite de Charles VI,” Romania 20 (1891), 415–54; Arthur Piaget, “Un manuscript de la Cour amoureuse de Charles VI,” Romania 31 (1902), 597–603.

Green_9781793613165.indb 156

15-04-2021 13:11:22

Chartier’s Hope

157

3. Carla Bozzolo and Hélène Loyau, La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI, 2 vols. (Paris: Leopard d’Or, 1982), 1:49. 4. Bozzolo and Loyau, La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI, 1:53, 55, 129 and 82; Piaget, “La Cour Amoureuse Dite de Charles VI,” 425. 5. Bozzolo and Loyau, La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI, 2:247; Piaget, “La Cour Amoureuse Dite de Charles VI,” 443; Contamine, Charles VII, 46. 6. Bozzolo and Loyau, La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI, 1:69. 7. There is however no evidence of Alain Chartier having been a genuine member of the Cour Amoureuse in the surviving armorials, see Bozzolo and Loyau, La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI, 1:69. 8. Alain Chartier, The Quarrel of the Belle dame sans mercy, translated by Joan E McRae, Routledge Medieval Texts (London: Routledge, 2004), 107; Edward Joseph Hoffman, Alain Chartier: His Work and Reputation (Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1975), 62–4, 85. 9. Hoffman, Alain Chartier: His Work and Reputation, 74–6. 10. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 6913–6920 and 7201–7208. 11. Ibid., lines 12585 and 14639. 12. James Laidlaw, “Alan Chartier and the Arts of Crisis Management, 1417– 1429,” in War, Government and Power in Later Medieval France, edited by Christopher Allmand (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000). 13. Hoffman, Alain Chartier: His Work and Reputation, 16. 14. Ibid., 13–15; Laidlaw, The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier, 9. 15. Pierre Champion, Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle 2 vols (Paris: Honore Champion, 1923), 1:107; Pizan, The Book of Peace, III: 14, 146 and 277. 16. Champion, Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle, 1:113; Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, II:33 and II:35, 147 and 151. 17. Hoffman, Alain Chartier: His Work and Reputation, 9–33. 18. Champion, Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle, 1:136; Contamine, Histoire de Charles VII, 139. 19. Alain Chartier, Le Livre de l’espérance, ed. François Rouy (Paris: Champion, 1989), 23. 20. Champion, Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle, 1:141. 21. James Laidlaw, “Les Belles dames sans mercy d’Alain Chartir,” in Autour de Marguerite d’Ecosse, reines, princesses et dames du XVe siècle, ed. Geneviève Contamine and Philippe Contamine (Paris: Champion, 1999), 42–4. 22. It is natural to date Chartier’s poem as having been written in 1428, ten years after the Burgundian takeover of Paris. This suggests that it dates from before Joan arrived in Chinon. However, since in the old calendar, then in use, the new year began at Easter, it could be surmised that Chartier’s work was in fact composed early in 1429. It is, however, too long and sophisticated not to have taken some months to write. Laidlaw in fact dates it to the second half of 1427, see Laidlaw, “Alan Chartier and the Arts of Crisis Management,” 51. 23. Chartier, Le Livre de l’espérance, 134–6; Earl Jeffrey Richards, “Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson: An Intellectual Friendship,” in Christine de Pizan 2000.

Green_9781793613165.indb 157

15-04-2021 13:11:22

158

Chapter 9

Studies on Christine de Pizan in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by John Campbell and Nadia Margolis (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000), 205. 24. Chartier, Le Livre de l’espérance, 142. 25. Here Chartier’s reasoning is remarkably similar to that developed in Chapter 10, “Nature’s Confession,” of The Romance of the Rose, see Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, The Romance of the Rose, translated by Frances Horgan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994). 26. Chartier, Le Livre de l’espérance, 167–8. 27. Margaret S. Blayney, “Alain Chartier and Joachism?” Modern Language Notes 70 (1955), 506–9. 28. Le viel Testament propose, Le nouvel preuve et expose. Sur gros texte clere glose. L’un promet, nonce, et dispose: L’autre contente, et repose . . . Et cueult les fruitz assignez Ja pieca predestinés Par prophetes designez, Soubz figure encourtinez, Maintenant determinez,

Desclos et descourtinez. Chartier, Le Livre de l’espérance, 112. Quoted by Blayney, “Alain Chartier,” 509.

29. Francq, “Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise,” 74. 30. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 19. 31. Chartier departed for Scotland at the end of April 1428 accompanied by Regnault de Chartres, Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:396. 32. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 18889–18960, “Affin que se mort encourtine, Le corps, son nom dure toudis.” 33. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:156–9; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 132–3. 34. Barrett, The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc, 56–7 and 103; McLeod, Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet, 171–4. 35. Michael K. Jones, “Gardez mon corps, suavez ma terre,” in Charles d’Orleans in England 1415–1440, edited by Mary-Jo Arn (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2000), 25. 36. McLeod, Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet, 190. 37. Champion, Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle, 2:22. 38. McLeod, Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet, 180 and 351–3. 39. For a while after his release from captivity Louis of Vendôme also stayed with John Cornwall, who, as a result of the carnage that he had witnessed during the siege of Meaux in 1420, abjured the war, Hallopeau, Essai sur l’histoire des comtes et ducs de Vendôme, 51–2; Bellaguet, Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, VI:448. 40. Gilbert Ouy, “Charles d’Orleans and his Brother Jean d’Angoulême in England: What their manuscripts Have to Tell,” in Charles d’Orleans in England 1415–1440, edited by Mary-Jo Arn (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2000), 47–60.

Green_9781793613165.indb 158

15-04-2021 13:11:23

Chartier’s Hope

159

41. Huart, Jacques de Bourbon, 39–43. 42. Ibid., 67. 43. According to Pasqueral it was Mme de Gaucourt (Jeanne de Preuilly) with Mme de Trèves (Jeanne de Mortemer, the young wife of Robert le Maçon, lord of Trèves) who were given the responsibility of checking Joan’s virginity, Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 311; Ayroles, La vraie Jeanne d’Arc, 4:218; J. Balteau and et al., Dictionnaire de biographie française, 19 vols. (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933–2000), 15:689. While I do not want in any way to cast doubt on Joan’s virginity, it is quite striking that the women to whom this delicate task was assigned were married to two older men, one of whom (Gaucourt) Christine had praised in her poetry, while the other (Le Maçon) had served Isabeau in happier times.

Green_9781793613165.indb 159

15-04-2021 13:11:23

Green_9781793613165.indb 160

15-04-2021 13:11:23

Chapter 10

A Sacred Sword

Asked how her king gave credence to her words, She replied that he had good signs; and through the clergy. Asked what revelations the king has, She answered: you will not learn them from me this year. She said also that the ecclesiastics of her party were of the opinion that there seemed to be nothing but good in her. Asked whether she had been to Saint Catherine de Fierbois, She answered yes. And there she heard three masses in one day, and then went to the town of Chinon. She said that she told her king on one occasion that it had been revealed to her that she should go to him. She said also that she had sent letters to her king, saying that she was writing to know whether she should enter the town where he was, and that she had already travelled a good hundred and fifty leagues to come to his aid, and that she had much good news for him; and she thought that the letter also said that she would be able to recognise him amongst all others. She said further that she had a sword, which, when she was in Tours or in Chinon, she sent to be looked for at St Catherine de Fierbois. This sword was in the ground, behind the altar of St. Catherine, and it was immediately found there, all rusted. Asked how she knew the sword was there, She said it was in the ground, all rusted, and upon it were five crosses. This she knew from her voices, saying that she never saw the man who was sent to look for the sword. She wrote to the clergy of the place asking that it might please them to let her have the sword, which they sent her. It was not deep in the ground behind the altar, so she thought, although in truth she was not certain 161

Green_9781793613165.indb 161

15-04-2021 13:11:23

162

Chapter 10

whether it were in front of it or behind, but she believed that she wrote that it was behind. She added that as soon as the sword was found, the clergy of the place rubbed it, and the rust fell off without any effort; and that it was an armourer of Tours that went to find the sword. And that the clergy of Saint Catherine and the citizens of Tours both gave her sheaths for it. They made two sheaths, one of crimson velvet and the other of cloth of gold. She herself had another made of very strong leather.

This story of the sword, which was found behind the altar at the shrine of Saint Catherine of Fierbois, is one of the miracles that make up Joan’s legend.1 Like the letters to the English and to the Hussites, it confirms her interest in, and knowledge of, the crusading tradition. On her trip from Vaucouleurs to Chinon, Joan stopped at this shrine, which was largely dedicated to prisoners of war. Later, from Tours, having written to the priests at Saint Catherine, Joan was sent a sword found behind the altar, covered in rust and with five crosses on it. As she says, her voices had told her about the existence of this sword. In his chronicle, Jean Chartier (thought by some, though probably mistakenly, to have been related to Alain Chartier) places an enormous importance on this sword, which he believed Joan to know, through divine revelation, was the means by which she was to expel the English from France.2 He relates how she had prohibited her soldiers from sleeping with concubines, but some still persisted, and she broke her sword over the back of one of these women in her effort to expel her from the camp. She saw these whores as jeopardizing her mission, and as preventing the king’s soldiers from doing their duty. The king was annoyed at the loss of the sacred sword and attempted to have it mended, but this proved impossible. Jean Chartier avows that it was from the time of the breaking of this sword that Joan ceased to prosper in arms as she had done previously.3 The chapel of Saint Catherine de Fierbois had been endowed by Jean II le Meingre, called Boucicault (as had his father before him). Many years earlier, he had been one of the knights who had accompanied the young John the Fearless (then count of Nevers) to help the Hungarians fight the Turks. This expedition had suffered a terrible defeat outside Nicopolis. Raoul de Gaucourt (who provided Joan’s page) and Jacques II de La Marche were among the few knights who returned alive from the subsequent slaughter. Having participated in this debacle, le Meingre returned to the Middle East. After helping in the defense of Constantinople against the Turks, he had undertaken a pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai and visited the tomb of Saint Catherine. From there he brought back relics of the saint. The history of the chapel goes back further, to before Charlemagne whose grandfather Charles Martel left a sword there

Green_9781793613165.indb 162

15-04-2021 13:11:23

A Sacred Sword

163

as a trophy of his victory over the Muslims. Saint Catherine de Fierbois was thus a perfectly appropriate stopping place for a prophetess armed with the prediction that the Charlemagne prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Joan tells us that she knew about this shrine from her voices. And this tells us that these voices must have had some knowledge of it and its history. Marina Warner tells us, at this point in her account of Joan, about a biography of Boucicault written between 1407 and 1409 called Book of the Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre called Boucicaut (Le Livre des fais du bon messire Jehan le Meingre, dit Bouciquaut). This biography is a panegyric of Boucicault as the ideal chivalrous knight, who heard mass regularly, gave generously to the church, and defended women. Warner comments that Joan could not have read the Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre herself, but she had undoubtedly “absorbed the image of this paragon among her heroes.”4 But by what means? It turns out that the Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre survives in a single manuscript, BnF, fr. 11432, and this was left without its planned illuminations. Moreover, the work may have had no contemporary copies.5 Spaces remain for illuminations, which were not painted, and the marginal decorations and capital letters are in place but unfinished. This was not a widely disseminated work. Someone in Joan’s circle must, however, have known of Boucicault and must have taught her to revere and honor this knight, as she had also learned to revere du Guesclin. Boucicault and du Guesclin are two knightly heroes whose exploits are evoked through the details of Joan’s career. These two heroes are connected through Jacques II de La Marche and Louis of Vendôme. Their father, Jean, had accompanied du Guesclin on the crusade against the Saracens and Jews, who were allied to Don Pedro, in the campaign to retake Castille for Henry. The young Jacques II de La Marche had later accompanied Boucicault on his mission to fight the Saracens in Hungary. Both of Joan’s military heroes thus had close connections with this family. And in the next chapter (chapter 11) we will look at the way in which Joan’s Franciscan connections also point to a possible relationship with Jacques II de La Marche, who was during this period closely associated with the Franciscan reformer, Colette of Corbie. There is uncertainty as to the author of Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre; one candidate proposed was Christine de Pizan. In the nineteenth century this attribution was made by Maurice Roy and Kervyn de Lettenhove, and more recently by Jean-Louis Picherit.6 However, Denis Lalande and Craig Taylor, the most recent editor of the work, doubt the attribution, and they have the weight of a number of other authorities on their side.7 Nevertheless, there are many similarities between this work and those written by Christine, and, even if she did not write it, she almost certainly knew and praised its subject as well as praising a knight who has been proposed as other possible author, Jean de Châteaumorand, one of the group of knights close to Boucicault.

Green_9781793613165.indb 163

15-04-2021 13:11:23

164

Chapter 10

Châteaumorand had traveled to Constantinople with Boucicault, in 1399, and had stayed there for three years, defending the starving city against the Turks, while Boucicault and the Emperor Manuel returned to France to seek more substantial aid from the French crown. In her Long Path of Learning Christine told a story from this siege, in order to explain the nature of true chivalry. Driven by starvation, a respectable woman with a large family offered her virgin daughter to Châteaumorand “to do whatever he wished with.” He, being above temptation, organized for the girl to be married and made sure that the family had sufficient to get by.8 It was while Châteaumorand was far away, fighting the Turks, that Christine wrote her Tal of Poissy and, as mentioned earlier, Willard thinks that this poem was in all probability addressed to either Châteaumorand or to Boucicault himself.9 In fact, even if Joan had been read to from the Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre this would not be enough to explain her knowledge of the significance of Saint Catherine de Fierbois. Although it would have taught her much about the history of Jean II le Meingre, it would not have provided her with the information about Saint Catherine de Fierbois, or the location of the sword that she acquired. The book mentions the fact that its subject had visited the shrine of Saint Catherine at Sinai. It says that he endowed religious institutions, but it does not explicitly link him to Saint Catherine of Fierbois. So, Joan must have acquired her knowledge from some source that was even better informed in relation to Boucicault’s life than any mere reader of his biography. Christine was among those who knew and appreciated Boucicault. His career had initially been promoted by Louis II of Bourbon, one of those instrumental in setting up the Court of Love, the brother of Marie prioress of Poissy, and of a group of Bourbon women whose descendants surrounded Joan. Boucicault was a member of the Court of Love, and also set up the Order of the Green Shield with the White Lady, with the rather narrower purpose of defending widows, and other women left without protection by the loss of fathers and brothers in the perennial conflicts to which France was subject. In her “Autres Ballades” II, III, IV and XII, Christine praises the knights who made up this order, which had been established on April 11, 1399.10 Returning to France from his battles against the Turks at Constantinople, Boucicault had become aware of the despicable treatment that had been meted out to some of the widows of the knights who had fallen at Nicopolis. The Order of the Green Shield consisted of a group of knights devoted to providing help to such widows so they might defend their rights. Among its thirteen members were Charles I d’Albret, Jean de Châteaumorand, and Raoul de Gaucourt. These knights were ladies’ champions and true knights of the kind that Christine extolled in her poetry. The respect she felt for Boucicault and his circle was reciprocated. Among the surviving manuscripts of Christine’s

Green_9781793613165.indb 164

15-04-2021 13:11:24

A Sacred Sword

165

Book of the Three Virtues, the earliest and most complete is an autograph manuscript, now Boston, PL, fr. Med.101, which belonged to Jean de Poitiers, the inheritor of the Boucicault family.11 The d’Albret family also possessed copies of a number of Christine’s works, including an autograph manuscript of Debate of Two Lovers (Le debat de .ij. amans), Brussels, KBR, 11034.12 In her poems Christine singles out for singular praise Charles I d’Albret, constable of France, who was not only a member of Boucicault’s order but also a member of the Court of Love. He too was a Bourbon, being a nephew of Louis II. His uncle had earlier set up another chivalric order, the order of the golden shield, implicitly referred to by a golden shield that decorates the version of the of the Othea in the queen’s manuscript that Christine had presented in 1414. In that collection, there is also a prayer to Our Lady, in which a special plea for d’Albret is included.13 Among the “Other Ballads” in this collection, four address and praise d’Albret as a “noble valiant knight,” a Brutus revived, descendant of Troy, who wears the emblem of the green shield and is much loved for his defense of women. One of these mentions Christine offering a copy of her Debate of Two Lovers to him, as well as to Louis of Orleans.14 This poem discourses on the value of love. In it the foolish love that leads to pain is contrasted with chivalric love that leads to valor. Thus, the poem anticipates the arguments of The Ladies’ Champion. In Christine’s setting out of this philosophy, a squire names contemporary examples of virtuous valiant knights, who desired in their hearts to feel a perfect love. He includes Bertrand du Guesclin, Boucicault, Châteaumorand, Charles d’Albret, and Raoul de Gaucourt among those who aspired to a true chivalric love of this kind.15 Besides a copy of this poem, one copy of which was dedicated to him, Charles I d’Albret owned other manuscripts of Christine’s works, including one of the prophetic Christine’s Vision which was in his library at Sully-sur-Loire.16 He died at Agincourt, but his son, Charles II d’Albret, the husband of Bonne of Armagnac’s sister Anne, hence Charles of Orleans’ brother-in-law, was often to be found fighting at Joan’s side, and was the author of a letter sent on the same date as Joan’s, that is November 9, 1429, to the people of Clermont asking for help with the siege of La Charité.17 It was at the d’Albret’s seat at Sully-sur-Loire that Joan spent the winter of 1429 to 1430.18 Joan’s knowledge of the significance of Saint Catherine of Fierbois adds further evidence to the argument that she was groomed for her role. Whoever prepared her must have been well aware of this history, as was Christine. In her Long Path of Learning, she represents herself as being taken by the sibyl to the abbey on a mountain where the bones of Saint Catherine give out a precious oil, and as obtaining a sample of this precious oil from the abbot. Christine’s geography in this passage is somewhat askew, but her description of the church, filled with lamps and candles, where she kissed the forehead

Green_9781793613165.indb 165

15-04-2021 13:11:24

166

Chapter 10

of the Virgin, is in all likelihood based on hearing an account of Boucicault’s visit.19 Joan’s visit to Saint Catherine de Fierbois on her way to Chinon, and her subsequent request to be allowed to take the sword, discovered behind the altar, smack of stage managing. If she was to fulfill a knightly role, she needed some miraculous tokens. The sword of a crusading knight, blessed and placed as an offering to Saint Catherine, was a powerful talisman with which to execute the Charlemagne prophecy. The fact that Joan stopped at Saint Catherine de Fierbois on her way to Chinon suggests that she, or her escorts, left Domremy with some knowledge of its significance. The sword was only produced once someone with more complete knowledge of the shrine than Joan had when she left Domremy was sent from Tours to retrieve it. Pierre l’Hermite, already implicated as one of the earliest promoters of the prophecies relating to Joan, was, by 1452, subdeacon of Saint Martin of Tours. This church is associated with Boucicault: it is where he was buried after his death in England in 1421. His body had been returned to France to be laid opposite his father’s in the chapel of the Virgin, behind the choir in the church of Saint Martin. Then, in 1426, his wife was laid to rest beside him.20 In fact, Tours emerges as a center of the support for Joan. It was there that her armor was made, her standard was painted, and a sheath was fashioned for her sacred sword.21 Pasquerel, Joan’s confessor, was a teacher in the church at Tours, and the inhabitants of the town both celebrated her victories and mourned her defeat.22 Being part of Yolande of Aragon’s domain, it is perhaps not surprising that Tours became a center of support for Joan. In the testimony with which this chapter began, Joan mentions in passing another of the miraculous feats that contributed to her legend. She thought that the letter that she had sent to the dauphin said that she would be able to recognize him among all others. The Charlemagne prophecy speaks of a Charles son of Charles born of the illustrious lily with a large forehead, large eyes, and aquiline nose. This could certainly pass for a description of Charles VII. And were Joan to have been able to recognize Charles on the basis of this description, one would have an explanation of one of her miracles, and, from Charles’s point of view, confirmation that he was indeed the Charles indicated by the prophecy. A number of chronicles relate that when Joan was introduced to the dauphin at Chinon, he hid himself among his courtiers. She is alleged to have nevertheless been able to recognize him, as she says in this version of her trial testimony, she had promised she would. From the point of view of the hypothesis that I have been developing, this capacity is hardly a miracle, for Joan would have had Charles described to her by people who had known him since childhood. Her success in the feat would be guaranteed also by the fact that she was introduced into the dauphin’s presence by Louis of Vendôme. But the promise and apparent successful fulfillment of this promise were powerful early signs of the authenticity of Joan’s mission.

Green_9781793613165.indb 166

15-04-2021 13:11:24

A Sacred Sword

167

Joan’s visit to Saint Catherine de Fierbois, the implied reference to Boucicault, and Boucicault’s close connections with the family of Louis II of Bourbon point back in a subtle way to Christine de Pizan’s Othea. The first illumination of the Othea in Isabeau of Bavaria’s copy of Christine’s collected works shows Othea, a woman in a long blue dress and simple white headdress, who looks remarkably like Christine herself, offering her letter to a young Hector, surrounded by knights. Below Othea, hanging prominently on a tree, is a gold shield. This, it has been suggested, is a reference to the chivalric order of the Gold Shield set up by Louis II of Bourbon in 1363 in order to honor one another and God, and to defend the peace.23 It is noteworthy that Jean Châteaumorand’s father was a member of this order.24 The seriousness with which this group was committed to peace is indicated by the fact that after the murder of Louis of Orleans, Louis II of Bourbon retired in disgust to his own estates. But even from there, he continued to attempt to negotiate a settlement of the conflict. Christine’s reference to him, through the use of his device, implies that she sees the Othea as having political implications and as contributing to the strategy of Louis II of Bourbon. She hoped that by avoiding the mistakes of Troy and following the path of virtue, set out in her letter, the young prince would follow in his uncle’s footsteps. By the time the manuscript of her works presented to Isabeau was illuminated, the person that Christine must have had in mind, as the young Hector who is to be taught, would no longer have been Louis of Orlean’s sons, but rather, Louis of Guyenne, then dauphin, for whom she also wrote her Book of Peace. The influence of the Bourbon family already extended across France. Louis II’s sister, Bonne, had married Amadeus VI, count of Savoy. His other sisters included Marie, the prioress of Poissy; Jeanne, the wife of Charles V; Blanche, the ill-fated wife of Pedro of Castille; Catherine, married to Jean VI of Harcourt; and Marguerite, mother of Charles I d’Albret. Bonne was also the grandmother of Amadeus VIII, who employed Martin le Franc. She had been regent for her son, Amadeus VII, during his minority, and on his deathbed, he made her governess and regent of his son, Amadeus VIII.25 She thus overrode the claims of his mother, Bonne of Berry, perhaps hastening the latter’s second marriage to Bernard of Armagnac. Although she had died in 1402, Bonne of Bourbon’s influence might well be seen behind Amadeus VIII’s attempts to preserve the peace, which were similar to those of his great-uncle Louis II. The major account of Louis II’s loyal commitment to the crown of France, and his attempts to maintain the peace, was written by Jean d’Orville, who had previously been employed by Amadeus. The interconnected clan of Bourbon/Savoy thus emerges as an underappreciated middle faction promoting a propaganda of virtue, loyalty, and peace, connected with a devotion to the Virgin Mary, respect for women, and a Franciscan piety.

Green_9781793613165.indb 167

15-04-2021 13:11:25

168

Chapter 10

Christine’s writing extolled all the values cherished in this circle, and she knew many of its members personally. Amadeus VIII’s sister, also called Bonne, was the owner of a “romance by Crestina” surmised to have been Christine’s Vision, and it is thought that this volume was presented to her on her marriage in 1405, the date of its composition.26 Later, as noted in The Champion des dames, Charles VII’s daughter Yolande married Amadeus IX of Savoy. After his death, three, and possibly four, works of Christine were listed in an inventory dating from 1479: a copy of the Letter of Othea, something called Le Livre de Crestine, and a parchment copy of Christine’s Vision with a silver clasp.27 The inventory also contains a work on the seven psalms, which may well be a copy of Christine’s Seven Allegorized Psalms written in 1409 for Charles of Navarre, Jacques II de La Marche’s father-in-law.28 Twenty years later an inventory of the library in the castle of Chambéry includes five works by Christine including the City of Ladies and Christine’s Vision (La Division Christine). This copy of her visionary work is recorded as beginning with the words “Pour ouvrir la voye,” which implies that it includes a preface, added to at least one version of the allegory, in order to make it more readable.29 This preface explains how a poet can say many things under the cover of metaphor.30 It offers a triple reading of the content of Christine’s vision that relates it to the universal world of the church, the fate of the individual, and the history of France. It ends by emphasizing the message of the thirteenth chapter and what follows: the plagues that are to visit the world, the kingdom of France, and elsewhere, as foretold in the ancient prophecies of Merlin, the sibyls, Joachim, and John, and which will eventuate because pride, lasciviousness, and lack of faith have prevailed. Christine remarks in the last paragraph of her preface that whoever reads and understands the chapters which follow will see that they concur with these prophecies, which accord with Scripture and that they will be found “correspondens et semblables.” It is difficult to interpret this remark, but the sense of the passage appears to be that the following chapters of the work will be found to contain accurate prognostications.31 With Joan, the interpretation of history developed in Christine’s Vision appeared for a short time to have been fulfilled. We noted earlier that le Franc’s praise of Christine was immediately followed by an account of the sibyls. And this early text of Christine shows her writing in a sibylline register foreshadowing Joan’s mission many years before Joan appeared. We cannot prove from the fact that this copy of Christine’s visionary allegory was to be found in Savoy that it was a text that le Franc knew. But we can surmise that it is highly probable that he did know it. Not only does Christine’s preface indicate the extent that she was prepared to represent herself as a prophetess, it also shows how poetry at this time

Green_9781793613165.indb 168

15-04-2021 13:11:25

A Sacred Sword

169

often contained hidden truths, which were meant to be read through proffered allegories, and so it helps justify the approach that I have taken in my work to the reading of le Franc’s poem. In previous chapters we saw that Louis of Vendôme, a cousin of Louis II of Bourbon, and brother of Anne of Montpensier, named by Christine as her friend, was often at Joan’s side and should be included among those that she referred to as “of her party.” In the last two chapters we have looked more closely at him and others of her supporters and we have seen that they had old and deep ties to a group of chivalric knights, whom Christine had known and praised in the first decades of the fifteenth century. Many were Bourbons and in the next chapter we will look more closely at the large extended family of Bourbons. For Charles of Bourbon, the count of Clermont, Louis of Bourbon’s grandson, who is named by Joan as one of those who heard her sign, also came from this family. And while Jacques II de La Marche, Louis of Vendôme’s older brother, does not figure centrally in the standard story of Joan’s appearance, we have found that the chivalric imagery evoked in Joan’s story points toward him. In the next chapter we will look more closely at the way in which his strong commitment to the Franciscans was apparently shared by Joan. The Bourbons, like the Laval family, had everything to lose from the successes of the English. In 1428, Bedford, the English regent, had confiscated the duchy of Vendôme and bestowed it on Robert Willoughby.32 Shortly after the raising of the siege at Orleans, the English tried to make good their possession of the duchy, and took the castle, but it was quickly retaken.33 The bulk of the Bourbon’s lands were south of the Loire, and threatened by the English attempt to take Orleans, and thus control a major bridge to the south. Charles VII’s defeat would have been their defeat, and it was only with the raising of the siege of Orleans that their lands were secured.

NOTES 1. Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 80–1; Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 155–6. 2. Quicherat mentions the possibility that Jean Chartier was Alain’s brother, Laidlaw doubts it, The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier, 1; Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:51. 3. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:72–3 and 4:93. 4. Warner, Joan of Arc, 164; Denis Lalande, ed. Le Livre des fais du bon messire Jehan le Maingre dit Bouciquaut (Geneva: Droz, 1985); Craig Taylor, ed. The Chivalric Biography of Boucicaut, Jean II le Meingre (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2016). 5. Lalande, Le Livre des fais du bon messire Jehan le Maingre, xiii–xxi.

Green_9781793613165.indb 169

15-04-2021 13:11:26

170

Chapter 10

6. Jean-Louis Picherit, “Christine de Pisan et le Livre des faicts du bon messire Jean le Maingre, dit Boucicaut, mareschal de France et governeur de Gennes,” Romania 103 (1982), 299–331. 7. Lalande, Le Livre des fais du bon messire Jehan le Maingre, xlii–lvii; Pinet, Christine de Pisan, 416–19; Taylor, The Chivalric Biography, 13. 8. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude, lines 4505–66. 9. Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works, 64–5. 10. Piaget, “La Cour Amoureuse Dite de Charles VI,” 447; Pizan, Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 1:208–12 and 220–21. 11. Pizan, Le Livre des trois vertus, xix; Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 614. 12. Henri Stein, “La Bibliothèque du Connétable d’Albret à Sully-sur-Loire (1409),” Le Bibliographe Moderne 6 (1902), 91–3; Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 366–71. 13. Pizan, Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 3:6. 14. The “Autres Ballades” referred to here are II, III, XVI, and XXI, Pizan, Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan, 1:208–11, 225–36, and 231–2. 15. Altmann, The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan, 123–5. 16. Stein, “La Bibliothèque du Connétable d’Albret,” 91–3. 17. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:147–50: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 30–1. 18. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc. Her story, 82. 19. Pizan, Le Chemin de longue étude, lines 1305–53. 20. Denis Lalande, Jean II le Meingre, dit Boucicaut (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1988), 173. 21. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 1:76 and 235, 4:12, 5:58. 22. Ibid., 5:61, 62, 65, and 253. 23. Sandra Hindman, Christine de Pizan’s “Épistre Othea”: Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986), 45. 24. J. Balteau et al., Dictionnaire de biographie française, 19 vols. (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933–2000), 8:769. 25. Van Kerrebrouk, La Maison de Bourbon: 1256–1987, 61. 26. Gianni Mombello, “Christine de Pizan and the House of Savoy,” in Reinterpreting Christine de Pizan, edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1992), 191–2; Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, xlix–l. 27. This may have been an early collection of Christine’s works, as described by Laidlaw, “Christine de Pizan: A Publisher’s Progress.” 28. Mombello, “Christine de Pizan and the House of Savoy,” 192–3. 29. Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, l; Christine M. Reno, “The Preface to the Avision-Christine,” in Reinterpeting Christine de Pizan, edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards (Athens, Georgia: the University of Georgia Press, 1992). This makes it possible that it was the manuscript ex-Phillipps 128, now in a private collection, Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 604–8.

Green_9781793613165.indb 170

15-04-2021 13:11:26

A Sacred Sword

171

30. “selon la maniere de parler des poetes, que souventfois soubz figure de methaphore, c’est a dire de parole couverte, sont muciees maintes secretes sciences et pure veritez,” Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, 3. 31. Et tout ce qui est contenu es dis chapitres ensuivant, se a droit sont gard, sont concurrans et acordans aux dis des prophettes sur le temps a venir avec lesquelz s’acorde la Sainte Escripture: et qui a droit les lira et entendra, les trouvera correspondans et semblables [And everything which is contained in the following chapters, if one reads them correctly, concurs and is in accordance with the words of the prophets, which accord with the words of the Scripture. And whoever reads them right will find them corresponding and true], Pizan, Le Livre de l’advision Cristine, 218. 32. Régine Pernoud, La Libération d’Oréans (Paris: Gallimard, 1969), 65. 33. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:102.

Green_9781793613165.indb 171

15-04-2021 13:11:26

Green_9781793613165.indb 172

15-04-2021 13:11:26

Chapter 11

Franciscans and Bourbons

Franc Vouloir would never have finished, His song, his flowery word That he had so well varnished The Virgin Mary to laud If Truth who never varies And never will be crushed By force nor by falsehoods Had not broken into his speech. The idol of Pygmalion Of which Ovid in Metamorphosis Makes such a notable mention Better dare I claim than Meun Did not become such a living thing As the image of this Truth More beautiful than the freshest rose More joyous than the summer. As true as the apocalypse The sun has no greater peer After a grand eclipse Than Truth when she shows herself clear, Thus Malebouche and the old man So suddenly surprised Lost all their looks and grand manners As though taken in sin and in lies.

173

Green_9781793613165.indb 173

15-04-2021 13:11:26

174

Chapter 11

The lady with visage laughing Began to speak with ire “Why do you come here battling Love and the ladies good sire? Malebouche dampen your anger Confess you here in this place For speaking against the mother of God Comes from the devil’s worst. Are you not well amazed That I speak to you here in person? Do you not fear to be betrayed Deceived and sold in deception? See this miracle truly But this I was made to do In order to show that for too long time I was hushed and hidden by you. Truth cannot be concealed: There’s no use dissimulating. Earlier or later she’ll be revealed. So before you I’m appearing That cherished and upheld I will more honourably be To give the prize in public To the one who has sustained me.” Then to the champion she went The hope of all the world And said: “Since you the argument Of women, have so well upheld And to him on high your duty rendered Who is good treasurer of all Franc Champion you have not surrendered The chaplet green of laurel.” But she had hardly placed it On the brow of the noble combatant When Faulx Semblant passed away And dead of grief was flattened. Malebouche jumped up straight To bring help to the poor old gent

Green_9781793613165.indb 174

15-04-2021 13:11:26

Franciscans and Bourbons

175

But he had already paid his dues And the last of his days were spent.

These lines from the fifth and last book of Martin le Franc’s poem, The Ladies’ Champion, follow his long defense of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.1 This culminates in a series of songs in which she is praised by the virtues. The whole ends in the triumph of truth and the death of Malebouche’s last defender, Faulx Semblant. Then Malebouche and all his crew are swallowed up by the earth. The defense of the Virgin seems, initially, to have little to do with the historical process invoked in the first part of this poem, which led to the peace of Arras, presided over by Isabella of Portugal. Yet there are reasons to think that even in these verses, Christine and Joan are still in the background linked, as they are by their devotion to the Virgin Mary.2 The conclusion of le Franc’s work, in which praise of the Virgin Mary is the pinnacle of the defense of women, echoes the conclusion of Christine’s City of Ladies. In le Franc’s poem, the Virgin is lauded by the four cardinal virtues, prudence, temperance, force (fortitude), and justice, and by the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity. There is also a tradition which links Joan to a group of devout Franciscans and to a contemporary movement to reinforce the sinless character of the Virgin, and in this chapter we will show how the tradition of the Virgin was connected at this period with elements of the prophetic tradition we have been examining. In order to prove the purity of the Virgin, le Franc discourses at length on the possibility of her having conceived without sin, despite the general sinfulness of humanity, inherited from Adam’s fall. This issue of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin was hard fought at the Council of Basel, and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed there, on September 17, 1439. The debate was of particular interest to a reforming Franciscan abbess, Colette of Corbie, in whose honor prayers had been said at the opening of the Council of Basel. She had traveled widely, visiting abbeys and convents and promoting the reform of Franciscan houses and in particular their closure. Although she had begun her life at Corbie, in the north of France, she owed the financial support that allowed her to set up her first convent to Blanche of Geneva, countess of Chalon, a not too distant relation of Amadeus VIII of Savoy.3 Amadeus VIII also supported her foundations, in particular endowing a convent that she established in 1424 at Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva, where Colette spent the next couple of years.4 Here she was joined by Loyse of Savoy-Archa, the daughter of the Bonne of Savoy, who had received Christine’s Vision as a wedding present. She was also joined by Agnes Wisemelle, a niece of Isabeau of Bavaria. Isabelle of Bourbon, one of the daughters of Jacques II de La Marche, had already been part of her company for some years, and Isabelle was, as we have seen, the

Green_9781793613165.indb 175

15-04-2021 13:11:27

176

Chapter 11

sister-in-law of both Bonne and Anne d’Armagnac, married respectively to Charles d’Orleans and Charles II d’Albret. Isabelle’s father Jacques II de La Marche was soon to arrive in order to be near her and Colette at Vevey, bringing with him his daughters Marie and Elenore; his son-in-law Bernard d’Armagnac; and his illegitimate son, Claude d’Aix.5 More than 100 years ago Siméon Luce developed the theory that there was some connection between Colette of Corbie and Joan. He, however, did not mention le Franc’s poem as part of his evidence. The fact that this work which praises Joan and is written, as we have seen, from the perspective of Savoy, also resonates so deeply with the cult of the Virgin, so dear to Colette, adds weight to Luce’s conjectures. Luce surmised that Joan renewed her contact with Colette while she was at Moulins, the residence of Mary of Berry, where both visionaries were to be found in early November 1429.6 At this moment Joan was fighting side by side with Charles II d’Albret, and this coincidence makes Luce’s surmise plausible. For Charles II d’Albret cannot have failed to be aware of Colette’s presence, given his close family connections with some of her most important supporters. While there is no proof that Joan met up with Colette of Corbie at Moulins it seems highly likely that she did so. In the course of her military campaigns, she resided at Moulins in November of 1429 and from there wrote her letters to Riom and Clermont-Ferrand.7 Given her preference for Franciscan congregations, there is every likelihood that she went to the chapel of the Poor Clares. And while one biographer concludes soberly that one cannot prove that there was a meeting between these visionary women, one finds even Yann Grandeau, in his attempt to demolish all the existing conspiracy theories pertaining to Joan, being forced to admit that given their shared connection with the Bourbons, it was probable that Joan and Colette did meet.8 Many of the people who surrounded Joan, and in particular her Bourbon associates, had fallen under the influence of Colette of Corbie. A recent study has suggested that Colette supported the Burgundians, while Joan was an Armagnac, but this offers a distorted image of their allegiances.9 In fact, the Burgundian and Bourbon women had been involved in promoting a series of truces and marriages aimed at healing the rifts between the different branches of the French royal family and promoting peace. In 1422 Colette had established a reformed monastery at Moulins at the behest of Mary of Berry who had been the recipient of Christine’s Epistle of the Prison of Human Life. She was also the aunt of Charles of Orleans’ wife, Bonne of Armagnac, and the mother of Charles, count of Clermont, and of Louis, count of Montpensier, two of Joan’s companions in arms.10 Her father had been a great patron of Christine’s and she had supported Christine financially in the early years of her widowhood. The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life, which Christine sent to her in 1417, already held out the hope that salvation might come

Green_9781793613165.indb 176

15-04-2021 13:11:27

Franciscans and Bourbons

177

to France through the agency of a woman.11 Mary of Berry, in approaching Colette and encouraging her to found monasteries in the Bourbonnais, at Montpensier, Aigueperse, and Moulins, was perhaps influenced by the mood of resignation found in Christine’s work. It was while Colette was at Montpensier, overseeing her new convent, that Isabelle of Bourbon, daughter of Jacques II de La Marche, arrived and asked to be accepted as a novice. Isabelle of Bourbon’s mother was Beatrice of Navarre, daughter of Charles of Navarre, for whom Christine had composed her Seven Allegorised Psalms (Les .vii. psaumes en françoys allegorisees), which were written to celebrate the coming of peace in 1409, at one of the many junctures when the conflict between the Burgundians and Armagnacs appeared to have been settled. One surviving autograph copy, ex-Ashburnham-Barrois 203, may have belonged to her grandfather, or alternatively to Louis II of Bourbon or John of Berry. Another was in the Burgundian library.12 These psalms were a call for the forgiveness of sins or crimes, in particular, the murder of Louis of Orleans, and for the healing of the rifts among the French princes, so are further evidence of the fact that all the players in the drama of Joan’s appearance were well aware of Christine’s earlier advocacy of these aims. Another supporter of Colette was Isabeau of Bavaria. On May 15, 1418 she had given her hundred livres tournois for the construction of a convent at Poligny. As we have seen, her niece joined Colette at Vevey, and it is interesting to note that “Bertrand de Poulengy” is the name of one of the gentlemen who accompanied Joan from Vaucouleurs to Chinon. Given the variation in medieval spelling it is possible that he was from the very place where Isabeau had endowed a Colettian monastery.13 He asserted in his rehabilitation testimony that he had visited Joan’s parents many times in their home, so perhaps there was intercourse between Poligny, where Colette had established a convent, and Domremy.14 Colette’s influence transcended the politics that had divided France. During the first twelve years of her spiritual influence, she was the counsel and friend of Marguerite of Bavaria, Philip of Burgundy’s mother, and wife of John the Fearless. It was Marguerite who interceded with her husband in order to provide Colette with her first proper convent at Besançon, which she occupied in 1410.15 Soon Marguerite invited Colette to set up a new convent at Dijon, but Colette persuaded her that Auxonnne would be a preferable site. Marguerite, whose castle of Rouvres was not too far from Auxonne, agreed, and it was here that Colette spent the years 1412 to 1417.16 Marguerite was a distant cousin of Isabeau of Bavaria and it may be through this connection that Isabeau had become a supporter of Colette. Marguerite of Lorraine, the wife of Charles of Lorraine, whom Joan visited at Nancy before leaving for Chinon, was also a supporter of Colette. In a will dated 1425 she bequeathed 100 gold florins to Colette, toward the setting

Green_9781793613165.indb 177

15-04-2021 13:11:27

178

Chapter 11

up of convents.17 At a later date, Isabella of Portugal was also to be found among the noblewomen eager to finance Colette’s spiritual projects. She built a convent at Hesdin, which was ready to welcome Colette in 1441 to 1442, the very period in which le Franc’s poem was first written. Isabella was also involved in an unsuccessful attempt to set up a convent in Corbie, Colette’s hometown.18 We saw in an earlier chapter that the heroic predecessors evoked by Joan’s visit to Saint Catherine de Fierbois and her homage to Jeanne-Anne Laval point to earlier crusading efforts against Turks and unbelievers. Jacques II de La Marche stands out as an individual who had family and personal connections both with Boucicault and du Guesclin. And as we now see, he was also closely allied to the family of Bonne of Armagnac, as well as to Colette of Corbie. But although these links strongly suggest some communication between Joan and Colette, neither Colette herself nor Jacques II de La Marche can have been Joan’s direct source of inspiration. As has been objected by others, Joan’s methods were quite different from those promoted by Colette. Colette saw the ills that had befallen France as a result of the moral corruption of the people, and of the clergy. Her prescription was prayer, poverty, and abstinence. She filled her convents with unworldly young women, who were happy to lead lives of the utmost simplicity. Joan by contrast had chosen an active life and seems to have been inspired more by the heroic spirit of women from biblical and ancient times than by the primitivist renunciation of Saint Francis and Saint Claire. Nevertheless, among the Franciscans there were to be found eager promoters of the Joachite message. Joachim had believed that two new orders of spiritual men were destined to lead the church out of the second period of history and into a third period of peace. These two new orders were widely believed to be the Dominicans and Franciscans, and although the Dominicans did not in general adopt Joachim’s prophecies, some of the Franciscans came to see themselves as the new spiritual men prophesied by Joachim.19 Though the extreme “spiritual” movement, which explicitly referred to Joachim, had petered out by the early fifteenth century, the “observant” movement to which Colette of Corbie belonged was, in a sense, its descendant. Thus, the Joachite outlook, found in Christine’s Ditié, helps cement the probable connection between these two visionaries. Nevertheless, Luce’s speculations that Colette may have passed Domremy in her travels, and thus had some earlier contact with Joan, seem unwarranted. Colette may have passed this way early in her career, but by the date of Joan’s birth she was to be found at Auxonne and her foundations between this period and 1429 were largely in Burgundy, Franche-Comté, the Bourbonnais, and Savoy, all to the south of Domremy. Immediately before her possible interview with Joan, Colette had been in the south of France, almost as far south

Green_9781793613165.indb 178

15-04-2021 13:11:28

Franciscans and Bourbons

179

as the Pyrenees, not far from the family estates of Bonne of Berry, setting up an establishment at Castres at the behest of Jacques II de La Marche. Yet Joan’s actions do show the influence of a belief in a coming spiritual renewal, associated with Joachim and the Franciscans. She emphasized the need for prayer, insisted that her troops confess before battle. She summoned the clergy to gather and pray before each battle beneath a specially constructed banner depicting Christ crucified. The Conclusion of Poitiers refers to “the prayers of the people,” and Joan’s mission was partly to inspire the French with a virtue that would make them deserve God’s grace. Colette’s aims did not contradict Joan’s, rather they were each attempting to achieve the same end, the restoration of France and its monarchy, by different but complimentary means. If we take le Franc’s words literally and assume that Joan “learned to carry lances and armour” and that her appearance was connected with an enterprise undertaken by duchesses, queens, and princesses, against their powerful enemies, we should look for the direct source of her inspiration beyond Colette. While the traveling Franciscans could easily have provided communication with others in distant parts of France, and even in England, Joan’s direct inspiration must have been derived from someone living sufficiently close to her home to have met her regularly in the woods, or in the fields, at times determined by the ringing of the village bell, which she took some pains to ensure was rung regularly. To find the embodiments of her Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Marguerite we should therefore look in the direction of more secular women and knights connected with the Franciscan tradition, who might have been in communication with Colette and her followers. For there is certainly considerable evidence that Joan was associated with the Franciscans and was possibly a member of the third order of Saint Francis. As was mentioned earlier, the Morosini Chronicle suggests that Joan was a beguine. While the beguines were not Franciscans they were rather similar in character to the third order of Saint Francis, members of which had a tradition of reading Joachimist texts.20 Colette had begun her attempts to lead a spiritual life in a beguinage, but had found the life too undemanding.21 The beguines were women who remained unmarried and followed a religious calling without entering into a closed house. The third order of Saint Francis was made up of individuals who followed a modified order of Saint Francis in their own homes. A piece of striking evidence noted by Luce is that Joan’s letters were headed with the words, “Jesus Maria,” suggesting a connection with the Franciscans. For this invocation of Jesus and Mary was used by them and by Colette in particular.22 Joan also had a ring with these two words engraved on it, which she had been given in Domremy. She said that she loved this ring because she had touched Saint Catherine with it.23 The words “Jesus Maria” were also painted along the side of her standard. When questioned about this

Green_9781793613165.indb 179

15-04-2021 13:11:28

180

Chapter 11

standard, she first answered that she did nothing except by God’s command, but later that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret had told her to have it made in this fashion.24 Whenever Joan arrived at a new town or village she would go to church to pray and would have sung an antiphon to Our Lady.25 Pasquerel’s rehabilitation testimony reinforces the connection between Joan and the Franciscans, for he reports that when she was able, she would seek out the schools run by this mendicant order, and go to pray with the children who attended. The strange story of Brother Richard also suggests a connection with the Franciscans. This visionary preacher drew great crowds to sermons in which he preached the Joachimist theme of the coming of the Antichrist and the need for repentance. He has been claimed to have been partly responsible for the lifting of the siege of Troyes, for he appears to have convinced the inhabitants of Joan’s invincibility.26 Some accounts suggest that when they met, Joan and Richard recognized each other. According to one source, Brother Richard had, during the spring, told the people to sow beans and Charles’s army had survived on these and green wheat while Troyes was besieged.27 Some months before this siege, this charismatic preacher had been expelled from Paris, on suspicion of being a supporter of the French, and it is also alleged that he was later expelled from Troyes as an agent of Charles VII. Two months before Joan’s death he was sequestered in a Franciscan convent at Poitiers.28 But Joan’s attitude to Brother Richard is somewhat mixed, for she shows little faith in Catherine de la Rochelle, who was introduced to her through him. While it is possible that she knew him, her faith seems altogether more rational and orthodox than his. After Marguerite of Burgundy’s death in 1424, Colette of Corbie’s most important protector became Mary of Berry. Even before Marguerite of Burgundy’s death, Colette had established good relations with the Bourbons, with Marguerite’s blessing. Since the imprisonment of her husband, Mary of Berry had become the senior member of the Bourbon administration. She was determined to keep the peace in her domains and consequently the political affiliations of the Bourbons seem mixed. Charles, count of Clermont, was generally a strong supporter of the dauphin’s claims to the throne. At the same time, he was deeply involved in the various intrigues and battles for influence, which troubled the dauphin’s entourage at this period. Jean of Bourbon, his father, was, by contrast, like Charles of Orleans, prepared to countenance peace on terms favorable to the English. The older tradition of the family, established by Louis II of Bourbon, was to have formed the backbone of a middle group which tried not to take sides in the battle between the Burgundians and Armagnacs, and whose major aim had always been the establishment of peace. Mary of Berry, acting as regent during her husband’s imprisonment, actively attempted to maintain it in the areas under her control.

Green_9781793613165.indb 180

15-04-2021 13:11:28

Franciscans and Bourbons

181

Truces were signed in September 1424 between her and Philip of Burgundy, with the aid of Marguerite of Burgundy and Amadeus VIII of Savoy.29 These truces were ultimately extended to include truces between the French and Burgundians, which were discussed in an earlier chapter. It was in 1424 that, his first wife, Michelle of France, having died, Philip of Burgundy married Marie of Berry’s daughter (by her first marriage), Bonne of Artois. Bonne had previously been married to Philip’s uncle, Philip of Nevers. The wedding took place on the November 30, 1424. Bonne actively pursued the path of peace, partly in the hope of rescuing her stepfather, Jean of Bourbon, from England. The Bourbon and Burgundian families were further allied when, on September 17, 1425, Charles, count of Clermont, married Agnes, the youngest sister of Philip of Burgundy. Luce attributes this rapprochement to the agency of Colette, though without providing substantial evidence.30 According to the Dictionnaire de Biographie Français, Jean de Châteaumorand was also involved in the negotiations which led to this marriage.31 Like Jacques II de La Marche, Châteaumorand was devoted to the Franciscans. In the years between 1370 and 1410 he had paid for the reconstruction of a Franciscan monastery at Saint-Nizier-sous-Charlieu, which can still be visited. These marriages did not entirely prevent war from flaring up again between Burgundy and his new brother-in-law, but through the intercession of Agnes, this did not last long. Bonne of Artois’ efforts to maintain the shaky peace between her husband and her half brother were sadly cut short by her childbed death on September 15, 1425.32 As mentioned, Colette’s interests were spiritual. She believed in the contemplative life of fasting and prayer, unlike Christine, who, in her Book of the Three Virtues, having acknowledged without great conviction that the life of contemplation is the higher life, went on to outline an alternative kind of charity, the life of active service to God. Christine believed in public works of social benefit rather than ecstatic self-renunciation. And in her practical orientation toward getting things done, and bolstering the legitimacy of the crown of France, Joan is much closer to Christine than to Colette. Yet it is Colette whose sign, “Jesus Maria,” Joan shares. The knights, Jacques II de La Marche and Jean de Châteaumorand, bridge this divide. Not only are they praised by Christine in her poems, they are both active men of war, who were supporters of the Franciscan cause. Jacques had been an active supporter of Louis II of Anjou’s campaigns in Italy in the first years of the century.33 During the turbulent years which followed the death of Louis of Orleans, he, like Boucicault, was initially fighting on the side of the Burgundians, who at this stage seemed to be the royalists. By 1413, like Louis of Anjou, he had changed his allegiance. After the death of his first wife, Beatrice of Navarre, mother of his daughters, he was involved in a disastrous marriage with the Jeanne II Queen of Naples. He was named Charles VII’s lieutenant general for Languedoc in 1424 but left

Green_9781793613165.indb 181

15-04-2021 13:11:29

182

Chapter 11

his service soon after to join Colette. He ended his life as a Franciscan monk in Besançon, as a devotee of her form of Franciscan spirituality.34 Jean de Châteaumorand was also a faithful servant of the Bourbons, whose activities during this period are somewhat obscure. He was involved in many of the events told in the Feats of the Good Jehan le Meingre and some have suggested him as involved in the production of this work. So, were we to look for a model for Joan’s Saint Michael, it is in the direction of these knights that we should search. Domremy was not quite the backwater in the fifteenth century that it has since become. It was on an important Roman road from Langres to Verdun, a road that both Alain Chartier and Châteaumorand may have taken, if the latter was, as claimed, involved in the marriage negotiations between Charles of Clermont and Agnes of Burgundy. Both he and Jacques II de La Marche have the right credentials to have been a source for the sort of worldview and knowledge that Joan acquired. Sources often dismissed as “Burgundian” propaganda claim that an old knight taught Joan her military skills and cannot be entirely dismissed. Nevertheless, the images which have come down to us of Joan and Jacques II de La Marche contrast so greatly that it will strike some as an affront to speculate that these two could have been in any way be connected. Joan’s life was sublime. Her acts, at least initially, meet with extraordinary success. She comported herself with modesty and with a sober religious devotion that never seemed strained or in excess. Jacques II de La Marche, by contrast, appears somewhat ridiculous. In Naples, having killed his wife’s lover, he so alienated the local nobles that he found himself imprisoned, and was only released by his wife, through the intercession of the King of France. Later, in 1435, when his second wife had finally died and he was able to enter a monastery, he traveled to Besançon in a procession that astonished and amused. He himself was reclined on straw in a cart of the kind used to transport manure. He wore a simple rough robe and hood of grey, but this ostentatious show of renunciation was contradicted by the following procession of monks, clerks, 200 led horses, wagons full of arms, knight, and servants in sumptuous clothes. Despite this difference in their contemporary images, we have seen that the symbols that gave Joan her status, the history that was evoked by her visit to Saint Catherine de Fierbois, the connection with the Franciscans, and even the association with the prophecies of Merlin, point to her having been influenced by someone whose worldview would have been very close to that of Jacques II de La Marche. When he came into the regions neighboring Joan’s, he came close enough to have monitored Joan’s progress, through the Franciscans and others who traveled locally. We should not forget, also, that we have reason to believe that the first indications that Joan’s appearance was prophesied in the works of Merlin were being spread in Chinon by Gérard Machet, who was to become bishop of Castres, a town of which Jacques was the lord.

Green_9781793613165.indb 182

15-04-2021 13:11:29

Franciscans and Bourbons

183

Colette may well have been at Puy-en-Velay for the Jubilee, when Joan’s mother met up with Pasquerel. She had been planning a convent at this location since 1425 and in 1430 it was finally established with the help of a donation of 2,000 gold ducats from Charles VII.35 She had gone to Castres, as previously indicated, to set up a convent at the behest of Jacques II de La Marche, but Puy-en-Velay and Castres are not so distant from each other, and given Colette’s devotion to the Virgin, one would expect to find her at Puyen-Velay on this auspicious occasion. Joan’s father was allegedly opposed to her going off to battle, and she reported that he had said he would rather have her drowned than see her leave with soldiers. This is something that he had said having had a “dream” that she was to do so. So, if it had been intimated to her father that she might be required to leave Domremy, it appears he was opposed to the idea, her mother, however, must have supported her plans. It can hardly have been by pure coincidence that she was able to meet up at Puy-en-Velay with those who had accompanied her daughter to see the dauphin. The conclusion of the Council of Poitiers says that the dauphin should not reject Joan, “in consideration of the continual prayers of his poor people to God and all other lovers of peace.” The general absolution offered by the Jubilee at Puy-en-Velay was a perfect occasion for the beginning of a new era. As we saw, above, the statue of the Virgin at Puy-en-Velay was alleged to have been made by Jeremiah, when he prophesied the coming of the Virgin, and the location thus had a unique connection to the prophetic history associated with Jeremiah. The Poitiers conclusion alludes to people already praying for peace, for whom Joan is a symbol of hope; undoubtedly, the timing of her mission was in no small measure determined by the event of the Jubilee, and its coincidence with a time of triumph predicted by the Charlemagne prophecy. In the trial testimony, when Joan is asked how the king gave credence to her mission, she replied that he had good signs, and through the clergy. So, we have evidence from her own mouth that at least some of the clergy were promoting her. After the anointing of Charles at Reims, his army moved toward Paris, but did not immediately attack. It was not until September 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, that an attack was finally mounted against Paris. It helps to explain the timing of this attack, for which Joan was criticized at her trial, if one understands it in the light of the special significance of the influence of the Virgin in this jubilee year. This also ties in with the belief of Joan’s promoters that the “virgo ascendit” prophecy had particular relevance for their time. After the failure of this campaign, Charles decided against further largescale military adventures, and continued with the process of attempting to negotiate with Philip of Burgundy in order to divide him from the English. Joan moved south from Paris to Bourges, where she spent October and

Green_9781793613165.indb 183

15-04-2021 13:11:29

184

Chapter 11

November. Accompanying Charles II d’Albret and the count of Montpensier, she laid siege to Sainte-Pierre-le-Moûtier and managed to take this stronghold. They were less successful at la Charité, and it was in order to request further aid for conducting this siege that Joan sent her letters to Clermont and Riom.36 This period of Joan’s campaigns has been represented as a hiatus, during which her plans were frustrated by Charles VII and his favorite adviser, Georges de la Trémouïlle.37 The duke of Alençon wanted her to come with him to fight in Normandy, but instead Joan went south with d’Albret. She has been represented as angry that Charles was negotiating with Philip of Burgundy, and as one who was for all-out war. The evidence for this is a comment in a letter to Reims in which she says that she is not sure that she will keep these truces.38 But the thought that she was completely against negotiation with Burgundy is inconsistent with her earlier letter to Burgundy which clearly pursued the path of negotiating a peace with him, as a step toward throwing out the English. Joan’s doubts about the truces may have simply hinged on doubts over Burgundy’s good faith. And it is highly probable that Joan went south and fought with d’Albret and Louis of Montpensier because she owed her primary allegiance to the Bourbons, rather than to Alençon. Joan was still a valuable commodity, despite the fact that the Virgin’s intercession had not worked as hoped at Paris. Joan turned back north toward Paris in March. Meanwhile, in Paris, a plot was hatching to open the gates of the city to the French troops. The conspirators, led by a Jean Pedriel, planned to foment an uprising within the town, having first concealed a contingent of Scots, disguised as Englishmen, within the houses near one of the city gates. Pierre Allée, who was prior of the Carmelites at Melun, had been one of the most important intermediaries between the conspirators within and Charles’s supporters outside the city. He and his Carmelite brethren had disguised themselves as laborers in order to escape notice, but one of them was arrested, tortured, and confessed to the plot. Among these conspirators was one John of Calais, who was pardoned for his involvement, having made himself out to have been an unwilling participant. He claimed that the ringleaders had attempted to involve him, knowing that he had previously been jailed for speaking in favor of peace. They invited him to dine with them at the “Pomme de Pin” in the Cité, but he had declined the invitation. Jaquet Guillaume, who lived at “the Bear,” was more deeply involved. He and a companion had left the city with the excuse of tending their vines, but with the real purpose of meeting up with Charles’s forces, in order to coordinate the uprising with an attack.39 This conspiracy was unsuccessful, but Joan clearly knew of it, and felt some concern for the said Jaquet Guillaume. She attempted to save his life by exchanging him for Fraquet d’Arras, a prisoner her forces had taken near Langly. Jaquet was, however, beheaded with at least six others, before the

Green_9781793613165.indb 184

15-04-2021 13:11:29

Franciscans and Bourbons

185

exchange could be made. Some 150 were arrested in conjunction with this conspiracy, and thousands were said to be involved. Joan had passed by Melun on her way to Langly, and she returned there at the end of April. No doubt she had met with those who knew about the plot and would have been among those rushing in at the gates of Paris, if the planned Easter uprising had not been thwarted. She was now in the thick of a complex and shifting web of alliances and conspiracies. Le Franc’s poem confirms that Joan was an instrument of the Bourbons and Orleanists for he says that Philip knows, “how from Bourges or Blois the King went under her friendship.” The time she spent at Bourges and at Moulins, and even her stopover at Saint Catherine de Fierbois, the shrine endowed by Boucicault, who owed his allegiance to the Bourbons, suggests that Joan owed her success at least partly to their support. In fighting at Compiègne, however, she may have been breaking with her Bourbon allies. The truce with Burgundy allowed for the town of Compiègne to be delivered to Philip. Charles, count of Clermont, had arrived at the town with the king’s demand that they surrender it to him, following the terms of this agreement. But the people had refused to obey and Guillaume de Flavy prepared Compiègne for battle. Perhaps then, the fact that Louis de Vendôme and Renault de Chartres did not join her when she returned to help Compiègne shows that she had, by then, given up the attempt to negotiate the peace with Burgundy, and so a rift was opening between her and the Bourbons. Yet before this Joan is constantly to be found fighting side by side with members of the two branches of the Bourbons. They supported each other while she lived, and after her death, helped keep alive both her memory as well as that of Christine de Pizan. In the Bourbon library at Moulins there were, by the end of the fifteenth century, no less than five copies of de Pizan’s Othea, the iconography of which we have been chasing through these pages. One of these, was BnF, fr. 848, thought to be the oldest of the manuscript of this work. Originally dedicated to Louis of Orleans, it came into the possession of Agnes of Burgundy, who married Charles, count of Clermont, in 1425. At a later date, when it was bound, the spine was stamped with the name “Catherine” de Pisan.40 By itself this coincidental mistake, which gives Christine the name of Joan’s saintly voice, might be insignificant. However, another highly decorated version of the Othea from this library is found in a manuscript BnF, Lat. 6482 and it also arguably forges a connection, in the illuminations, between Christine, Saint Catherine, and Joan. This manuscript was copied for the son of Agnes and Charles, Jean II of Bourbon, between 1469 and 1488. It contains a Latin version of Giles of Rome’s Regimun Principum followed by a shortened version of the Othea, which contains only a third of the stories from the original, and these are reordered. At the beginning of the volume there are three full-page illuminations. The first of these shows

Green_9781793613165.indb 185

15-04-2021 13:11:30

186

Chapter 11

Jean of Bourbon kneeling before his ancestor Saint Louis. A few pages later, facing each other on folios 7v and 8r, are two images that cry out for interpretation. On the left Saint Sebastian is martyred. It is not entirely clear why Saint Sebastian is depicted here, but his image and martyrdom are, coincidentally, also depicted on a pillar of the church at Domremy. It is the image on the right which evokes Joan, for here an androgynous young knight kneels before the Virgin Mary, to whom he/she is presented by Saint Catherine (figure 11.1).

Figure 11.1  Saint Catherine Presents a Knight to the Virgin Mary. Source: BnF, Lat. 6482, f. 8r, © BnF.

Green_9781793613165.indb 186

15-04-2021 13:11:31

Franciscans and Bourbons

187

Figure 11.2  Othea Teaching a Knight, Epistre Othea. Source: BnF, Lat. 6482, f. 201r, © BnF.

When we come to the beginning of the Othea, we find a similar young knight again, seated on the grass at the foot of Othea, who sits in a chair and instructs him/her in knighthood (figure 11.2). No great weight can be placed on these images, yet they are suggestive, so that, while I have come across no contemporary work which explicitly identifies Christine with Joan’s Saint Catherine, these illuminations hint that members of the Bourbon clan believed in some such connection. So far, we have seen that there are many more connections between Christine de Pizan and Joan of Arc than just a poem, written by a woman,

Green_9781793613165.indb 187

15-04-2021 13:11:32

188

Chapter 11

isolated in an abbey, who heard secondhand of the miraculous incarnation of her dreams. Some are slight, others substantial, but together they strongly indicate that in some capacity or another, Christine was involved in the appearance of Joan. It is hardly believable that a woman of Christine’s caliber who had had so much energy that she wrote more than ten substantial works in eighteen years, should have sat quietly in her abbey for the next eleven, without taking any interest in the fate of France, or in the interventions of women. History is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, for which the original picture has been lost and the pieces scattered across the globe. Past historians have uncovered many of these pieces and put them together in a pattern which seems to them to make sense. But many others lie undiscovered. Others are ignored, because they don’t seem to fit. In this book I have realigned the pieces of Joan’s story, suggesting a rather different completed picture to the one commonly imagined. But there are still many gaps to be filled. My research has confirmed that the people who were close to Joan, or at least their parents, were acquainted with Christine, and if not with her, at least with her texts. In particular, they knew the Othea, Christine’s Vision, Book of the City of Ladies, Book of the Three Virtues, Long Path of Learning, Seven Allegorized Psalms, and, in at least one instance, the Prison of Human Life. Taken together these show that Christine’s Ditié was no departure for Christine, but the culmination of her expression of a prophetic vision, in which women had the potential to take center stage. One can therefore confidently assert that Joan’s contemporaries had been primed by Christine to recognize the possibility of a woman bringing the sort of spiritual benefit that Joan delivered to her people. The stage had been set. Did the actress simply stumble into her part? Or was she trained? There is direct textual evidence from le Franc’s poem that she was prepared, but it unclear by whom. Le Franc interweaves into his poem Joan’s life and images from Christine’s texts in ways that cannot be accidental. The hints that he throws out have led us to consider the work of Alain Chartier and his anticipation of Joan’s appearance and commitment to Joachimite prophecy. We have seen that there are a number of women to whom le Franc might be referring with his veiled allusion to princesses, queens, and duchesses. The web of iconographic and personal connections is impressive. Could Christine have retired to an abbey in the region of Domremy and been the voice that inspired Joan? Or was she at Poissy as is currently assumed? The similarity between the writing found in Joan’s letter to the duke of Burgundy, and the hand of one of Christine’s scribes, provides a tantalizing fragment to bolster the view that at least at one stage, Christine and Joan were in direct contact with each other. We have seen that Yolande was a supporter of Joan’s action against Orleans, as was her daughter, who is praised by le Franc. We have seen that Joan was in all probability instructed

Green_9781793613165.indb 188

15-04-2021 13:11:33

Franciscans and Bourbons

189

in the prophetic tradition, and that she and her supporters believed sincerely that the time for the fulfillment of the Charlemagne prophecy was at hand. In his memoir, Pius II represents Joan as impatiently saying at the walls of Reims that “there must be no delay; everything must be done at the time God had appointed.”41 Her urgency is explained by the timetable implicit in the Charlemagne prophecy. The pope’s words are quoted by Fraioli, who comments; “Joan operated with a divine script dictating a tight chronology.”42 But it is bizarre to think that visions or hallucinations imply a chronology. Joan’s actions are usually evidence of sound sense. Gerson defended her by saying, “The Maid is not obstinate in her own sentiments and she does not go beyond the orders and inspirations she is convinced she received from God.” This implies that she followed a sound logic that was acceptable to the best educated prelates of the time. A timetable set out in respected prophecies was a reasonable source of inspiration. A private hallucination of God’s “divine timetable” was not. Before turning to question whether Christine’s abbey could have been in the vicinity of Domremy we will look at one more small set of coincidences which connect Christine and Joan. This is the fact that the female descendants of those who fought with Joan figure prominently among those kept alive the memory of Christine, by owning copies of her manuscripts and reproducing her works. Guy XVI’s daughter, Hélène de Laval, married Jean III de Malestroit, lord of Derval, in 1450. She and her husband owned a beautifully executed manuscript of the Book of the City of Ladies.43 Unlike most illuminated manuscripts of the City of Ladies, this one contains a miniature illustrating the story of the Amazons, a single Amazon in a full suit of armor, holds in her right hand a lance with wavy banners. A cobbled together copy of Christine’s Othea also belonged to this branch of the Laval family. This work contains the Othea and a work by Cicero. The manuscript, in which the Othea is apparently put together out of an older and a later fragment, was constructed sometime after their marriage.44 Helen was sister of Guy XV of Laval, who was married to Catherine of Alençon the younger, the daughter of John, duke of Alençon, and this marriage seems typical of the descendants of the group who surrounded Joan, who often intermarried.45 Hélène’s cousin, Jeanne, the daughter of Louis of Vendôme, became the second wife of René of Anjou, while Gilles de Rais’s daughter, Marie, took as her second husband, André de Lohéac, Guy XIV’s brother. Marie de Rais’s first husband was Pregunt de Coëtivy, admiral of France, and his niece appears to be another of those responsible for a later copy of Christine’s City of Ladies.46 Pregunt’s brother Oliver married Marguerite de Valois, the illegitimate daughter of Charles VII, with his famous mistress Agnes Sorel, and their daughter Catherine de Coëtivy married Antoine de Chourses.47 An abridged manuscript of the City of Ladies bound together

Green_9781793613165.indb 189

15-04-2021 13:11:33

190

Chapter 11

Figure 11.3  Livre du corps de policie, Chantilly. Source: Bibl. Du Château 294, fol. 1r, Cliché CNRS-IRHT © Bibliothèque du musée Condé.

with a copy of Boccaccio’s Of Noble Women was almost certainly prepared for them.48 An early copy of the Book of the Body Politic, Chantilly, Bibl. Du Chateau, also came into the possession of Catherine de Coëtivy (figure 11.3). Louis Malet de Graville, the grandson of Jean Malet de Graville, who had been Charles VII’s master of the crossbowmen during the height of Joan’s successes, also possessed an early manuscript of Christine’s Mutability of Fortune.49 In earlier chapters we saw how important manuscripts of Christine were in the possession of Mary of Berry at Moulins, and part of the patrimony of Charles of Bourbon and Louis of Montpensier. We have seen too that it was part of Joan’s mission to deliver Charles of Orleans from England. Charles of Orleans was the possessor of an extensive collection of Christine’s writings, as well as being the beneficiary of Joan’s inspiration. His council appreciated Joan’s efforts on his behalf and in June 1429 they made available thirteen gold escus to provide her with an outfit in his colors, as thanks for the part she had played in lifting the siege of Orleans.50 It is most appropriate that Charles’s

Green_9781793613165.indb 190

15-04-2021 13:11:34

Franciscans and Bourbons

191

fortunes should have been mended by this reincarnation of Penthesilea, for the Othea was originally dedicated to his father, whose untimely death had set in train a sequence of battles, truces, and false hopes for peace, which only came to an end with the peace of Arras and the final ejection of the English from France some fifteen years later. NOTES 1. Le Franc, Le Champion des Dames, lines 24257–24320. 2. For Joan’s Marian devotion see, Ann W. Astell, “The Virgin Mary and the ‘voices’ of Joan of Arc,” in Joan of Arc and Spirituality, ed. Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). 3. Elizabeth Sainte-Marie Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette de Corbie: 1381– 1447 (Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1921), 99; Nancy Warren Bradley, “The Life and Afterlife of St. Colette of Corbie: Religion, Politics, and Networks of Power,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley (Leiden: Brill, 2016). 4. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 149–53. 5. Ibid., 199. 6. Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy, 297–9. 7. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc. Her story, 81; J. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation 5:146–8. 8. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 158–61; Yann Grandeau, Jeanne insultée: procès en diffamation, 257. 9. Jane Marie Pinzino, “But where to draw the line? Colette of Corbie, Joan of Arc and the Expanding Boundaries of Women’s Leadership in the Fifteenth Century,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley (Leiden: Brill, 2016). 10. This Louis of Montpensier should not be mistaken for his uncle who had married Anne of Bourbon, mentioned above as Christine’s friend. He is the nephew of the latter. 11. de Pizan, The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life, 15. 12. Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, 663–80. 13. Yann Grandeau, “L’Exercice de la Piéte a la cour de France les devotions d’Isabeau de Bavière,” 152. 14. Jean de Châteaumorand is also described as lord of Poligni but this appears not to be the same place, Kathleen Daly, “‘Centre,’ ‘Power’ and ‘Periphery’ in Late Medieval French Historiography: Some Reflections,” in War, Government and Power in Late Medieval France, edited by Christopher Allmand (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000), 130. 15. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 100–3. 16. Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy, 272; Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 110. 17. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 232. 18. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne, 468–9; “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy as Benefactors of Colette de Corbie and the Colettine

Green_9781793613165.indb 191

15-04-2021 13:11:34

192

Chapter 11

Poor Clares,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley (Leiden: Brill, 2016). 19. Reeves, Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future, 29–47. 20. Ibid., 42–3. 21. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette, 67. 22. Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy, 267. 23. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 162 and 202; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 86 and 127. 24. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 157 and 176; Scott, The Trial of Joan of Arc, 82 and 100. 25. Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle, 274. 26. His part in convincing the inhabitants of Troyes that they would be beaten in any case is reported by Jean Rogier, see Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:296. 27. Viriville, Chronique de la Pucelle, 275. 28. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 198. 29. De Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:17; Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne, 24. 30. Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy, 296. 31. Balteau et al., Dictionnaire de biographie française, 8:770. 32. Sommé, Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne, 24–5. 33. Balteau et al., Dictionnaire de biographie française, 2:1289. 34. De Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:64; Luce, Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy, 267. 35. Perrin, La belle vie de sainte Colette de Corbie, 171. 36. It is interesting to note that la Trémouïlle had been captured and ransomed by Perrinet Grasset of la Charité on his way to Bruges on the mission to Philip of Burgundy, which he undertook with Alain Chartier, in late 1425. Perhaps, Charles d’Albret’s, la Trémou¨lle’s half brother, interest in defeating Perrinet was partly revenge for this incident. 37. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story, 80 and 190. 38. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:139–40: Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 118–19 39. Auguste Longon, Paris pendant la domination anglaise (Paris: Champion, 1878), 301–8. 40. Mombello, La tradizione manoscritta dell’ “Epistre Othéa,” 23. 41. Pius II (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini), Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope: Commentaries of Pius II, ed. Leona C. Gabel, trans. Florence A Gragg (New York: Book 6, 1962), 206. 42. Fraioli, The Early Debate, 55. 43. Geneva, Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire, fr 180, described in detail by Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan,” 451–63. 44. BnF, fr. 1187. 45. Mombello, La tradizione manoscritta dell’ “Epistre Othéa,” 43; Anselm de Sainte Marie, Histoire généalogique et chonologique de la maison royale de France, 3:626–29.

Green_9781793613165.indb 192

15-04-2021 13:11:35

Franciscans and Bourbons

193

46. Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan,” 483. 47. Anselme de Sainte Marie, Histoire généalogique et chonologique de la maison royale de France, 1.119, 7.845–46; Curnow, “The ‘Livre de la Cité des Dames’ of Christine de Pisan,” 482. 48. Chantilly, Bibl. du Château, 856. 49. Munich, BSB, Cod. Gall. 11, Ouy, Reno, and Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, 470. 50. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 5:112–3.

Green_9781793613165.indb 193

15-04-2021 13:11:35

Green_9781793613165.indb 194

15-04-2021 13:11:35

Chapter 12

Christine’s Whereabouts

It is to be noted that Christine, a lady distinguished in birth and behaviour used to stay at the house of religious ladies at Passy near Paris, and she was so virtuous that she provided exhibitions for many student clerks at the university of Paris and had several virtuous books compiled like the book of the tree of battles, and the doctors in their wisdom assigned the name of Christine as author, but sometimes the name of a clerical student is placed as author in several books; and she lived to around the year 1430, but she flourished from the year 1400.1 Notandum est quod Cristina domina praeclara natu et moribus et manebat in domo religiosarum dominarum apud Passye prope Parys; et ita virtuosa fuit quod ipsa exhibuit plures clericos studentes in universitate parisiensi, et compilare fecit plures libros virtuosos, utpote librum arborum bellorum, et doctores racione eorum exhibiciones attribuerunt nomen autoris Cristine, sed aliquando nomen autoris clerici studentis imponitur in diversis libris; et vixit circa annum Christi 1430, sed floruit ab anno 1400.2

I began the research, on which this book is based, guided by the initially unsubstantiated hunch that Christine trained Joan. Over years of testing this hypothesis, the only evidence that I have found that would falsify it, is the oft-repeated tradition that Christine spent 1418 to 1429 in the Dominican Abbey at Poissy, not far from Paris. But is this tradition reliable? The note reproduced above, written by an Englishman, William Worcester, secretary to Sir John Fastolf, in a margin of his Boke of Noblesse, is the sum total of the evidence that Christine spent the years between 1418 and 1429 at Poissy. It claims that Christine spent at least some time at “Passye near Paris.” If we take it at face value, it tells us that Christine was at Passy, not Poissy. Since there is both a town of Passy near Paris, and a Passy-en-Valois, which Fastolf 195

Green_9781793613165.indb 195

15-04-2021 13:11:35

196

Chapter 12

was responsible for capturing in 1423, in order for this to be good evidence that Christine was at Poissy, it needs to be shown both that Christine was not in a religious house in Passy, and explained why Worcester referred to Poissy in this misleading way.3 But even if we follow the suggestion that we read “Passye” as “Poissy” there is little reason to treat Worcester as an authoritative source. It turns out that, in fact, one of the most interesting features of this marginal note is that it shows that important people on the English side of the channel, who were closely involved in Joan’s drama, were also interested in Christine. Marie-Josèphe Pinet, whose early twentieth-century study of Christine first mentioned the note, admitted that it didn’t prove Christine’s whereabouts. Yet she went on to give it some authority. She says, “This note is by William Worcester, secretary to John Fastolf, who frequently resided in Paris, during the English occupation. It was then common knowledge that Christine lived at Poissy.”4 But no such conclusion can be drawn. It is just as likely that Worcester simply took as his source Christine’s poem, the Tale of Poissy, which provides an account of her staying in the convent. Nothing in the note tells us when Christine was at “Passye” and Worcester’s other observations concerning Christine are so distorted that he cannot be considered a reliable source. Indeed, although Christine’s daughter had entered the convent in 1398, and we have some reason to believe that she was still there in 1418, a closer look at this circumstance counts against Christine being there. In the early eighteenth century some notes were taken from the then remaining archives of the convent. Here, following the name of Sister Catherine de la Tour it is stated that a daughter of the celebrated Christine de Pizan lived there in 1418 (or possibly 1408).5 Clearly, if there had been any evidence then available that the celebrated Christine de Pizan herself had also been resident at the abbey, Susanne de Hennequin, who took these notes, would have mentioned it. The fact that she did not should make us deeply suspicious of Worcester’s note. There are also reasons to be surprised to find Christine at Poissy. The eleven years between 1407 and 1418 had been times of growing instability and civil war in France. When, in May 1418, the supporters of Burgundy were secretly let into Paris, the dauphin Charles was whisked away from Burgundian control by Tanguy de Chastel, and those of his retinue who could, fled with him. Since her son, Jean Castel, was a secretary to Charles, Christine is assumed to have been among those who fled Paris at this time. In the first stanza of her poem she suggests that she was enclosed in an abbey as a result of treason, presumably a reference to the treasonous manner in which the Burgundians were let into Paris. But if she fled Paris in 1418, in order to escape the Burgundians, it is difficult to understand why Christine would have gone to Poissy, which

Green_9781793613165.indb 196

15-04-2021 13:11:35

Christine’s Whereabouts

197

was already in Burgundian hands. Charity Cannon Willard, one of the most important authorities on Christine, notices this anomaly, and makes the fact that Christine was at Poissy evidence that she had not fallen out completely with Burgundy.6 Christine had begun her literary career in the court of Louis of Orleans. But in the early years of the fifteenth century she had turned her attentions toward the Burgundians. Having dedicated her poem Mutability of Fortune to Philip of Burgundy she was commissioned, by him, to write a biography of Charles V, and was later paid for this work by his son, John the Fearless.7 For some time Christine’s son was employed at the Burgundian court, and so she had been for a period somewhat indebted to the Burgundians. But the implication that she still favored the Burgundian side of the quarrel in 1418 hardly adds up. If Christine felt that she was in favor with the Burgundians, she need not have fled Paris. But she could not have felt this. Her Book of Peace already contained a severe condemnation of the Cabochean revolution, stirred up by Burgundy, and it is highly critical of the very people who returned to Paris in 1418. This book celebrates the return of Charles of Orleans and his supporters to Paris after the peace sworn at Pontoise, at a time when the Armagnac faction took control and John the Fearless left Paris.8 We can assume therefore, that like her son, like her friend the chancellor of Paris, Jean Gerson, who had not dared to return to Paris after the council of Constance, and like her one time correspondent, the humanist Jean Montreuil, who had been killed in the first Cabochean uprising, Christine was a potential victim. If she fled Paris with her daughter-in-law and son, how and why would she have gone further into Burgundian held territory? An interesting feature of this note, from our point of view, is the evidence that it provides that some of the English who were involved in fighting Joan were also interested in Christine. The coincidence of an Amazonian savior appearing, just after such unfeminine behavior had been praised by a devoted supporter of the crown of France, must have seemed suspicious to a wily old warrior, John Fastolf, committed to defeating the French. William Worcester’s master is alleged by some to have been the model for Shakespeare’s character Falstaff. His history is bound up with Joan’s campaigns. He was a senior member of the household of the English Regent, the duke of Bedford, and an executer of Bedford’s will. He was governor of Normandy and captain of Rouen during the period of Joan’s trial. He was in Paris often after 1422, during the English occupation. In 1440 he either had copied, or acquired by purchase, a very fine manuscript of the Othea, Ms. Laud 570, now in the Bodleian library at Oxford, which is preceded by a short tract on the cardinal virtues.9 It is decorated throughout with his motto, “Me fault faire,” suggesting that it was probably commissioned for him. He, at least, was often in France, and was clearly interested in Christine’s works.

Green_9781793613165.indb 197

15-04-2021 13:11:36

198

Chapter 12

There is, by contrast, no evidence that Worcester spent long periods in Paris. He was born in 1415 and was in Fastolf’s employ by 1438, near the end of the latter’s engagement in France. From 1440, Fastolf remained in England.10 However, in the early 1440s Worcester spent nine months in Normandy.11 This is already ten years after Christine’s death. On some of his visits to Normandy, Worcester was collecting evidence for the defense of his master, who had been accused of cowardice by John Talbot. This accusation had been leveled at Fastolf as a result of one of Joan’s spectacular successes. After the siege of Orleans was lifted, the French chased the retreating English and engaged them at Patay. The position was not favorable to the English. They were in danger of being routed, and, in order to preserve his troops, Fastolf allowed them to fall back. As a result of this retreat, he was, for a time, in danger of being stripped of the Order of the Garter. We could expect, therefore, Fastolf’s secretary Worcester to have shown some interest in Joan. He also had some interest in Christine, from whose work on warfare he copied some of his own book. So, Fastolf and Worcester did know French affairs quite well. Yet, there is really very little reason to take this note to be a reliable source. The information in the margin of Worcester’s book is corroborated nowhere else and is full of inaccuracies. For instance, he misattributes Honoré Bouvet’s Tree of Battles to Christine. And, as in an earlier account of her, by another associate of Fastolf, Stephen Scrope, his stepson, we have in this note a refusal to believe that Christine’s work was really her own. She reported that even during her lifetime some men put about rumors that her work was not hers. Worcester and Scrope repeat these rumors, describing her as a noblewoman who paid clerks from the University of Paris to compile works for her. Yet there is something odd about their ignorance, since Fastolf was in a position to know better. In the middle of the fifteenth century, and probably before 1450, Stephen Scrope translated Christine’s Othea into English. One copy of this text, Longleat Ms. 253, contains a dedication to Fastolf, but this copy is not finished. Another illuminated copy is dedicated to Humphrey Stafford, duke of Buckingham. There is little to connect Stafford with Scrope. Yet, by coincidence, Humphrey Stafford had been in Rouen, at the time of Joan’s trial. He had been present when she was interviewed in prison by Jean of Luxembourg, and had been tempted to stab her for her insolence.12 He was also a guest at a dinner held by Henry Beauchamp on May 13, 1431, with Joan’s judge, Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, among others.13 He had become duke of Buckingham in 1438, and had been lieutenant general of Normandy until 1432 when he returned to England. He had also been created count of Perche, no doubt partly for his good services in France. It is, as we saw, in the Othea, that Christine introduced Penthesilea as the personification of Charity. And

Green_9781793613165.indb 198

15-04-2021 13:11:36

Christine’s Whereabouts

199

one can’t help wondering, whether Fastolf, Scrope, and Humphrey Stafford were interested in this text at least partly because of its praise of the Amazon savior of France and its fascinating anticipation of Joan. Although the book he was translating had been written less than fifty years before, and Christine had died less than twenty years earlier, Scrope seems to have known little about her and like Worcester was not prepared to assert that the book he was translating had been written by a woman. He claims in his dedication to Fastolf that the book, “at the instavnce & praer off a fulle wyse gentyl-woman of Frawnce called Dame Cristine, was compiled & grounded by the famous doctours of the most excellent in clerge the noble Vniuersyte off Paris.”14 Here we see how women in general, and Christine in particular, have been written out of history. Since women did not often write books, Scrope assumed it was not rational to believe in the evidence of such acts when they were brought to his attention. A simple inductivism will prove that it is more likely that a fine manuscript was written by a clerk for a lady who paid him, than penned by her. Yet like Worcester’s, Scrope’s ignorance is surprising. His step-father would be expected to know much more of Christine than this. George Warner who edited the English translation of the Othea in the early twentieth century had the following to say about the misinformation in both Scrope’s text and Worcester’s note: Nor is the writer more fortunate in his account of the French work which he translated; for by some strange misunderstanding he deprives its authoress of the credit of it and makes out that it was compiled by doctors of the University of Paris at the instance and prayer of the “fulle wyse gentylwoman of Frawnce called Dame Christine.” It is curious that a very similar statement is made as to her works generally in a marginal note in the “boke of Noblesse,” with reference to a passage taken from her “Livres des faits d’armes” which however is wrongly spoken of as the “Arbre des batailles.” It is there said that Christine was a lady of high birth and character who dwelt in a house of religious ladies at Passy (Poissy?) near Paris, that she maintained with exhibitions several clerks studying at the University of Paris and caused them to compile divers virtuous books, such as the “Arbres des batailles” and that the doctors in consequence attributed the books to Christine herself. As this note is in the hand of the wellknown William Worcester or Botoner, who was servant and secretary to Fastolf, the two statements no doubt had a common origin, coming perhaps from Sir John himself.15

How could Fastolf’s associates have been so ignorant about Christine? Fastolf had spent many years fighting in France, he was on the winning side at the battle of Agincourt, and in 1420 he became governor of the Bastille. He

Green_9781793613165.indb 199

15-04-2021 13:11:36

200

Chapter 12

was grand master of the duke of Bedford’s household from 1422. He certainly knew Jaquette of Luxembourg, Bedford’s last wife, reasonably well. He was therefore presumably familiar with the sumptuously illuminated queen’s manuscript, that Jaquette had been given by her husband, and now belongs to the British library. During the fifteenth century it was the source of a number of translations of Christine’s works into English. Since Jaquette’s descendant, Anthony Wydeville (Woodville), gave brief but accurate descriptions of Christine in the volumes of her works that he translated, one can only wonder why Scrope and Fastolf were not better informed about her, particularly in the light of the further fact that the Woodvilles and Fastolfs knew each other. Indeed, Anthony Woodville was involved in contesting Fastolf’s will.16 Scrope also spent some time in the late 1420s in France.17 He spent his time in Harfleur and so might never have seen the volumes that Bedford had acquired from the French royal family, on the other hand, he may have done so. Fastolf was a successful warrior, deeply involved in the French wars. It was he who had captured John, duke of Alençon, in 1424 after the battle of Verneuil. In 1435, a few years after Joan’s death, he would send an angry set of instructions to the English at Arras, where Philip the Good of Burgundy acknowledged Charles VII as the legitimate King of France. Fastolf was disgusted that Philip solemnly forgave the French for the murder of his father, John the Fearless, and that he was exonerated by representatives of the pope, for breaking the vows that he had made, when he had upheld the English claim to the crown of France.18 In the face of this treason and perfidy, Fastolf’s report recommended that the English ravage the French lands, in order to protect their holdings in Normandy, and punish the French for their refusal to recognize Henry VI as their king. It would take some twenty years more for peace to be finally established between the French and the English. And even in 1449, when the English cause in France was hopeless, Fastolf was still advocating war.19 So, there is every reason to expect Fastolf to have been interested in the people behind Joan’s appearance. One of Joan’s greatest military successes after Orleans was his great defeat, and he cannot but have been puzzled by her appearance and phenomenal success. He was an experienced and canny old warrior, who had advised against taking on the French so soon after their victory at Orleans, while they were still inspired by the apparent favor of God. Jean de Wavrin, who was with him when he withdrew from the defeat at Patay, was among those who thought that Joan was someone’s instrument.20 He surmised wrongly that she had been trained by Baudricourt. Joan had been burned at the stake as a heretic, for recanting on her abjuration, and for taking up her male dress again, but the trial had left many unanswered questions. Some authorities believe that she may have been forced by the English to relapse and even if this was not the case, many on the English side must

Green_9781793613165.indb 200

15-04-2021 13:11:36

Christine’s Whereabouts

201

have suspected that Joan was not a witch and was more likely the result of a successful political ploy, grounded in the exploitation of the well-known, prophetic tradition. That she had managed to recreate the Penthesilea story, and that her appearance was connected to prophetic writings, which suggested a revival of French fortunes, was clear. The question that Fastolf was likely to have asked himself was, “How did she manage to do it?” We may not be able to go beyond speculation as to why this crusty old warrior —firmly opposed to those in England, such as William de la Pole, duke Suffolk, who preferred peace with France—was interested in Christine’s text. But we can establish that the evidence in England concerning her whereabouts is slender. Furthermore, when we consider the content and purpose of Christine’s poem it seems strange that it should have been written from Poissy. Christine adds to her poem, “Thus ends a very beautiful poem by Christine.” It would have been virtually suicidal for a woman residing at Poissy to have acknowledged as her own this celebration of Joan’s success. Not only would the author have been arrested as a traitor to the English, had it been written by someone known to be at Poissy, it would surely have put others, such as Marie of France and Catherine of Harcourt at risk. Even if the rather improbable surmise, that I earlier explored, that Poissy was a center of resistance to the English were true, this resistance would have had to have been covert. But Christine, in signing “a beautiful poem by Christine,” makes her support for Charles VII manifest. This makes it highly improbable that she was in Burgundian held territory when she wrote it, for its publication would have led to her immediate arrest and trial for treason. In fact, the Ditié is clearly written as part of the propaganda supporting Joan. Where copies of if still exist, it is collected with other such propaganda, such as the prophecies which supported Joan’s mission. The three extant manuscripts are found in widely dispersed regions, one at Berne in Switzerland, another at Carpentras, near Avignon, the third at Grenoble.21 None have surfaced in Normandy or Paris, where one might expect them, if the work was originally written at Poissy. The content of the work and distribution of exemplars suggests that the work was written by someone connected to the dauphin’s entourage, not by a sequestered woman, firmly within the realm of Burgundian and English influence. There is one other fragment of information that suggests that Fastolf should have known Christine’s whereabouts, but it raises new questions and also counts against Christine being at Poissy. Christine’s son, Jean Castel, had been married not long before Paris was retaken by the Burgundians. He and his new wife must therefore have had to flee into exile soon after their wedding. In about 1425, Jean Castel died. Six years later, in December 1431, the year in which Joan was burned, his widow, Jeanne Coton was permitted to return to Paris. According to the official document granting her permission

Green_9781793613165.indb 201

15-04-2021 13:11:37

202

Chapter 12

to return, she had left Paris with her husband and had remained with him in the part of France occupied by Henry VI’s enemies for about six years. In 1425, after the death of her husband, she attempted to return to Paris, but was soon after required to leave and went to live in another place (within Henry VI’s domains) where she resided quietly.22 She was allowed to return to Paris in 1431, apparently in consideration of the poverty to which she was reduced. Pinet suggests, without justification, that this is evidence that Christine died in 1431. After Christine’s death her mother-in-law was no longer in a position to be a nuisance to the English, so Jeanne Coton was no longer seen as a dangerous enemy.23 But this surmise is inconsistent with her other assumptions. The remission shows that Christine could not have been with her daughter-in-law during the whole of the period from 1418 to 1431, for her daughter-in-law certainly did not stay in one place, whereas Christine says she was in an abbey for eleven years. It is also unlikely that Jeanne Coton was in an abbey since, as she was married in 1418, and had three young children by 1425, she must have been living with her husband, for at least some of the time. The place where Jeanne Coton spent the first seven years of her exile was not Poissy. For Poissy was not somewhere where Henry’s enemies were to be found. It is also clear from Christine’s Tale of Poissy that the convent of Saint Louis at Poissy was enclosed, and that visitors were unusual, it was not the sort of open institution that a married young woman was likely to have used as a refuge. So, if Christine was at Poissy, she did not go there with her daughter-in-law. This contradicts the speculation that she fled Paris with her family. Had she been traveling with them, she would have ended up in the lands controlled by Henry VI’s enemies, not at Poissy. If she was at Poissy she must have traveled separately, but it would have been very unlikely, virtually impossible, for a woman of her station to have traveled alone. So, if we continue to assume both that Christine was at Poissy and that she left Paris around the time when the Burgundians entered, we are faced with the rather improbable hypothesis that Christine left Paris at the same time as her son and daughter-in-law, but traveled without them and in the opposite direction. It could be speculated that Jeanne Coton was the source of Fastolf’s beliefs as to Christine’s whereabouts. The remission accorded to her was signed in the presence of the duke of Bedford; Henry Beaufort, cardinal of England; the bishops of Beauvais, Paris, and Noyon; Warwick, the chamberlain; the first president; and “the grand master of the hotel,” which is to say Fastolf. It seems inconceivable, given the medieval passion for listing relationships, that these people would not have known that Jeanne Coton was the daughterin-law of Christine de Pizan, whose works interested at least one of them. And so, we have some evidence that Fastolf was in a position to know where Christine was residing. And yet the fact that Fastolf had seen Jeanne Coton,

Green_9781793613165.indb 202

15-04-2021 13:11:37

Christine’s Whereabouts

203

if only as a plaintiff before the Royal Council, makes Scrope’s general ignorance concerning Christine even more surprising. There is also something strange about this remission. The affair seems a minor matter. The poor widow of a secretary of Charles VII is allowed to return to Paris in order to live with her parents. But the people who witness this act are familiar: Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, who presided over Joan’s trial; the bishop of Noyon (Jean de Mailly), who had been present at her death; Henry Beaufort, cardinal of England, the most senior English cleric at Joan’s trial; and Warwick, her jailer. Was it just a coincidence that this group, who had but a few months before seen Joan burned, congregated again to see Christine’s daughter-in-law admitted back into Paris? They had come to Paris to officiate at the coronation of Henry VI, and it may be simply as a result of this that they were present to witness the remission. Or is something else going on here? The remission has survived in a collection of documents largely relating to treasonous activities during the English occupation, suggesting that there is something to connect Jeanne Coton’s life with secret state matters. What might these be? After being involved with the translation of Christine’s Book of Peace, I became aware of another similar “mirror,” a letter of advice published in 1866, by Auguste Vallet de Viriville, under the title, Advis à Isabelle de Bavière. It begins in the following manner. Most excellent and powerful princess, and most revered lady, mother of our sovereign lord the king, in whom he and all of us his subjects have hope of relief from the ruin and desolation of the realm.24

Impressed by the similarities between both the content and the appearance of this letter with the appearance, as well as prescriptions, of the autograph manuscript of the Book of Peace, that I had just been studying, I published an article in which I hypothesized that Christine might have been its author (figure 12.1).25 During the intervening years, critical responses to this article have focused not so much on the proposal that Christine was the letter’s author, as on the question of whether Isabeau of Bavaria was in fact the queen saluted in its opening lines.26 In accepting that Isabeau was the addressee of the Advis, the editor, Valet de Viriville, whom I followed, was repeating an attribution made much earlier, in a note on the manuscript, which assumed, quite naturally, that Isabeau must have been intended, since she was the mother of Charles VII. Viriville noted that it was rather surprising that the work should be addressed to her but saw no reason to suspect that “mother of our sovereign lord the king” meant anything other than “mother of our sovereign lord the king.” More recent scholars have surmised, however, that the addressee

Green_9781793613165.indb 203

15-04-2021 13:11:37

204

Chapter 12

Figure 12.1  The Advis. Source: BnF, fr. 1223, f. 1r, © BnF.

was not the king’s mother, but rather his mother-in-law, Yolande of Aragon. There are documents in which Charles addresses Yolande as his “bonne mere” or as his “mere, la royne de Sicile.” Yolande, his mother-in-law, his “belle-mere” in modern French, was also entitled to be called his mother. But the principles of conversational implicature entail that “mere de nostre souverain seigneur le roy” [mother of our sovereign lord the king], not disambiguated by “bonne” or “royne de Sicile” or one of Yolande’s other titles, should be assumed to refer to the king’s mother, not to his mother-in-law. In a conference presentation discussing the Advis, in which they propose that the work addresses Yolande, Philippe Contamine and Françoise Autrand offer the following rather circular piece of reasoning. “It does not appear that

Green_9781793613165.indb 204

15-04-2021 13:11:38

Christine’s Whereabouts

205

at any moment between 1422 and 1435 any connection was renewed between Charles VII and his mother, who officially never ceased to recognize her grand-son, Henri VI as the only legitimate king of France.”27 Yet, if the salutation to the mother of the king (clearly Charles VII) is taken at face value, the Advis suggests that, at the very least an attempt to forge such a connection took place in the years after the death of Charles VI and Henry V. This could well have been done at the behest of Arthur of Richmond, who was the brother-in-law of Jeanne of France, one of Isabeau’s daughters, married to Arthur’s brother, the duke of Brittany.28 This makes him one of Charles VII’s brothers-in-law. A decade earlier, he had been close to the deceased dauphin, Louis during 1414, during the period when Christine had written the Book of Peace and Jeanne of France had come to Paris with a large retinue to see her mother. Who better then, to attempt to open up secret negotiations with Isabeau? The surmise that Yolande rather than Isabeau was the addressee of the Advis is not particularly logical, nor is it well supported by the contents of the letter, which recognizes that the king has been mistaken in the past and sets out to promise that in the future he will be governed by council, cease to alienate his lands, and listen to advice. All now agree that the work was penned around 1425, that is, soon after the return of Louis of Vendôme from England, during the first intervention of the count of Richmond in Charles VII’s affairs. During this period negotiations were being undertaken by them, with the help of Amadeus VIII count of Savoy, to affect a rapprochement between Charles and Philip of Burgundy.29 Had Charles’s advisers also managed to entice Isabeau away from the English, this would have been a substantial diplomatic coup and the Advis reads as though this is its purpose. Around this time, those of Charles’s advisers who had been associated with the bad advice that had led to the murder of John the Fearless on the bridge of Montereau were distanced from the court and Charles revoked a number of grants that he had made. The advisers who were sent away, in particular Jean Louvet, had been closely involved with Yolande of Aragon’s administration. They were both her Angevin retainers and responsible for the death of John the Fearless. So, if we take her to be the addressee, we have a strange situation, in which someone is addressing her, admitting that, in the past, the king was mistaken or deceived in being governed by her advisers, yet calling on her as someone from whom might be expected the relief of the nation. The document would then be promising that the king will distance himself from the associates of the woman from whom the author is expecting relief. It is more plausible to read the work as apologizing to Isabeau for past mistakes, and as promising that Charles will follow the new policies of proposed. For, there is every reason to assume that Charles’s supporters would have been just as interested in driving a wedge between Isabeau and the English, as in

Green_9781793613165.indb 205

15-04-2021 13:11:38

206

Chapter 12

detaching the duke of Burgundy from his allegiance to them. In this context, a letter rejecting the mistakes of the past, and promising future good government, in exchange for Isabeau’s support, is quite comprehensible. The body of the letter of advice urges financial probity, love of God, and a prudent and regal demeanor, like that of Charles V, whose administration had been praised by Christine both in her Feats and Morals of the good King Charles V and in her Book of Peace. One feature which echoes Christine’s earlier works is that it praises both the administration of Charles V and recommends the way of life of the “duke of Milan,” Isabeau’s ancestor, whom Christine had often mentioned in earlier works.30 It ends with the hope that the king will read the little articles offered and take example from them, promising that his realm will profit thereby. This conclusion could be taken as evidence that the work was not destined for Isabeau. Indeed, Contamine suggests that it was addressed to Yolande so that she could, if possible, bring it to the attention of her son-in-law.31 But then, why not address the advice to Charles himself? Since Yolande was constantly in contact with him, why not ask her directly to bring it to his attention, rather than merely hoping that he would read it. No matter how one looks at the matter, the overall structure of the Advis is puzzling. Its content makes it more appropriately addressed to the prince whom it advises, as Book of Peace was addressed to Charles’s elder brother Louis, when he was dauphin, than to the prince’s mother. Yet perhaps that is the point. By confecting a new “mirror,” addressed to Isabeau, promising the improved behavior of her son, Richmond, through Christine or whoever actually penned the work, would be reminding the addressee of her earlier importance as mediator between the warring factions and supporter of her son’s royal interests. Having been Louis of Guyenne’s close friend during the period when Christine had dedicated the Book of Peace to him, Richmond would have reminded Isabeau of this earlier period when she was asserting her authority as mother of a prospective king. His elevation, by Charles, to the position of constable, a position that had earlier been successfully filled by another Breton, Bertrand du Guesclin, could well have been encouraged by his being well placed to make conciliatory moves, not only to Burgundy, but also to Isabeau. Isabeau has been painted by earlier historians as a voluptuous queen who was implicated in an affair with her husband’s brother, Louis of Orleans, and whose greed venality and treachery led to the loss of France. This slander is associated with a tradition, promoted by a supposed descendant of Joan, that Joan was in fact the illegitimate daughter of Isabeau of Bavaria. Much ink has been spilled showing the lack of foundation to this story.32 Modern opinion, based on a closer examination of the documents relating to Isabeau, has overthrown the accusations made against her, which are later elaborations, not warranted by contemporary records.33 One of the stranger sources of these

Green_9781793613165.indb 206

15-04-2021 13:11:39

Christine’s Whereabouts

207

rumors is a poem “Le Pastoralet” written between 1422 and 1425, in order to glorify John the Fearless and justify his acts.34 This attack on the queen’s integrity, written by a Burgundian, during the period in which she was to all appearances a supporter of the Burgundian and English cause, is worthy of note. It suggests that some, at least, did not trust her and wanted to paint her as “in bed with” the Orleanists. So, the thought that the Advis was intended for her cannot simply be dismissed. The fact that the only manuscript that survives is in Paris, also counts against the addressee having been Yolande. For, if in fact it was intended to address Yolande, and to set out the internal reforms to be undertaken by Charles and his Angevin supporters, one would expect copies to have been found at Tours, Bourges, Chinon, or Angers, advertising to the public these laudable intentions. Yet, a single copy appears to have languished in the royal library in Paris, without ever attracting any notice. This counts strongly in favor of it having, in fact, been destined for Isabeau, as its flyleaf implies. The same collection of documents that contains the remission accorded to Jeanne Coton demonstrates that senior members of Isabeau’s staff, Hémon Raguier, her treasurer, and Jean le Blanc, her argentier, had both had their property confiscated by the English, during the 1420s, as a result of the treason of which they were accused. Although Isabeau was the initial beneficiary of these confiscations, it is possible that she was playing a double game, and had not been completely innocent of the “treasonous” activities of her agents.35 The first of these traitors had left Paris and joined Charles’s forces so that, on May 10, 1429, it was Hémon Raguier, now Charles’s treasurer, who recorded the 100 pounds tournois paid to an armorer for Joan’s outfit. If we accept the hypothesis that Christine wrote the Advis and that it was addressed to Isabeau, then a further hypothesis is suggested. This is that Christine’s daughter-in-law was the conduit by means of which the letter was delivered, or was attempted to be delivered, to Isabeau. This would explain why Jeanne Coton was required to leave Paris in 1425, for she would have been under suspicion of being an agent for enemy forces, who were attempting to lure the queen away from the English. Le Franc spoke of queens, duchesses, and princesses in relation to Joan’s appearance, and we have seen that there were various negotiations, aimed at bringing the different factions of the French royal family back together, promoted by royal women during the period. Isabeau was not completely isolated in Paris. She was visited by the dukes of Burgundy and Richmond when they passed through and often by bourgeois women of the town.36 One of these could well have been Jeanne Coton. There are, indeed, surprising links between Joan’s associates and Isabeau. Louis de Coutes, Joan’s page for the duration of her short military career, was the grandson of Madame de Noviant (Nouvion-le-comte) who was,

Green_9781793613165.indb 207

15-04-2021 13:11:39

208

Chapter 12

until her death in 1399, one of Isabeau of Bavaria’s trusted companions. In 1412 her son, Charles lord of Noviant married another of Isabeau’s companions, Isabeau la Mareshalk who had come from Bavaria and served Isabeau until 1417.37 She had been among those of the queen’s ladies who had been arrested by the Cabochiens, and so had good reason not to love the Burgundians. In 1416, before she left Isabeau’s service, Hémon Raguier had paid her 300 pounds to cover the expense of returning to her native Bavaria.38 The younger Madame de Noviant’s daughter, Catherine, was the mother of Louis de Coutes.39 Her husband, Jehan de Coutes, was, in 1427, governor of the counties of Blois and Dunois for Charles of Orleans.40 From the age of fourteen, Coutes, who was to become Joan’s page, had been attached to the service of Raoul de Gaucourt, who had been, as we saw, one of the knights praised by Christine. Other people who supported Joan also had connections with Isabeau. Robert le Maçon, who upheld her authority and encouraged others to have faith in her, had been Isabeau’s chancellor before playing the same role for Charles. If we take the attribution made on the manuscript of the Advis at face value, and accept that the work’s existence is evidence that some steps had been taken to disengage Isabeau from the English, so as to seek from her some “hope of relief from the ruin and desolation of the realm” then a rather nice explanation of the sign brought by Joan becomes available. A good deal of the speculation that surrounds the nature of this sign has been based on the idea that there was some genuine doubt as to the dauphin’s legitimacy. Joan is supposed to have reassured Charles that he was Charles VI’s son. Another tradition, following a fairly late chronicle, adopts the miraculous story that Charles had prayed for a sign from God, and that Joan was able to repeat to him the words he uttered in private prayer. But neither of these traditions really adds up. The story of Joan’s knowledge of his private words to God is a late embellishment of her legend, perhaps promoted by Charles himself in order to deflect questions about the signs Joan brought. Furthermore, there is no reason to suppose that Charles had any doubts that he was the legitimate son of Charles VI. He had been disinherited. But the reason was, quite plainly, his suspected involvement in the plot to murder John the Fearless, successfully carried out by Jean Louvet and others on the bridge at Montereau. When Philip of Burgundy gave up his support for the English, and recognized the legitimacy of Charles’s claim to the French crown, at the ceremony in Saint Vaast’s cathedral in Arras, an important element of the ceremonial was an act of forgiveness sworn on a golden cross for this past murder.41 Clearly, it was his involvement in this murder that justified Charles’s disinheritance, and once the murder was forgiven there was no question as to his legitimacy. We can, nevertheless, reinterpret the story concerning Charles’s legitimacy. He had been repudiated by his parents and in particular by his mother,

Green_9781793613165.indb 208

15-04-2021 13:11:40

Christine’s Whereabouts

209

his only sane parent, through the Treaty of Troyes. While it is likely that Isabeau had initially disinherited him willingly, during the later years of her life she was virtually a prisoner of the English and was poor and isolated. The bourgeois of Paris relates that when she saw her grandson, the child Henry VI, she turned away from him in tears. She may not have been a totally popular queen, but her reindorsement of her son’s claims would have been an important boost for his cause. Furthermore, there is a surprising tradition that Isabeau died of joy at hearing that the peace of Arras had been signed, which makes little sense, unless she had come to favor the success of her only surviving son and the ousting of the English. If Joan’s appearance were the result of a last ditch effort by queens, princesses and duchesses, Joan may well have brought an assurance from Charles’s mother that, were he to retake Paris, and govern virtuously, he would have her full blessing, and her people would rally to his side. The sign that Joan refers to at her trial is said to be in Charles’s treasury, which suggests a jewel, or some other valuable token. And the hypothesis of a secret sign from his mother would explain the continued need for secrecy about the nature of her signs, even after Joan was captured, for Isabeau remained in English hands and would have been extremely vulnerable to any accusation of treason. We have now entered the realm of speculation. There is no proof that negotiations with Isabeau were opened up. Nor is it certain that Christine was the author of the Advis, which includes some Latinisms not found elsewhere in Christine’s works.42 But nor is there any compelling evidence that Christine was at Poissy. But if not there, where? We know from her poem that she was in an abbey. Since there were many abbeys in France, this does not help us much, so we will concentrate on one, not too far from Domremy, where Christine might have taken shelter, the abbey of Mureau. Up until this point in this narrative, I have attempted to stay as close as possible to existing documentary evidence. A certain amount of speculation was inevitable, since the significance of documents is often contested. Now it is necessary to move beyond the documents. In the next concluding section, I offer a narrative that, while it is more plausible than the accepted fairy tale, cannot yet be substantiated by hard evidence. It elaborates the hypothesis that Christine trained Joan, taking a risk in adding details to this supposition, since some details may well be falsifiable. What I hope, nevertheless, to offer is a realistic account of what might have taken place, and one which has not yet been falsified.

NOTES 1. I am very grateful to Constant J. Mews for providing this translation. Others have translated the passage as falsely claiming that Christine was born and died at

Green_9781793613165.indb 209

15-04-2021 13:11:40

210

Chapter 12

Poissy, a translation which further diminishes its authority, Jennifer Summit, Lost Property: the woman writer and English literary history, 1380-1589 (Chicago: The Unversity of Chicago Press, 2000), 75. Some of the material in this chapter was published in, “Was Christine de Pizan at Poissy 1418–1429?,” Medium Ævum 83 (2014), 28–40. 2. Quoted by P. G. C. Campbell, “Christine de Pisan en Angleterre,” Revue de littérature comparée 5 (1925), 669, from William Worcester, The Boke of Noblesse Addressed to King Edward the Fourth on his invasion of France in 1475, ed. John Gough Nichols (London: The Roxburghe Club, 1860), 54. The original is in British Library Royal ms. 18 B XXII, fol. 28r. 3. For discussion of Fastolf at Passy see, C. A. J. Armstrong, “Sir John Fastolf and the Law of Arms,” in England, France and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century (London: Hambledon Press, 1883). 4. Marie-Josèphe Pinet, Christine de Pisan (Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1974), 181. 5. BnF, fr. 5009 f. 6v mentioned by Joan Naughton, “Manuscripts from the Dominican Monastery of Saint-Louis de Poissy” PhD diss. University of Melbourne, 1995, 108, online at http://eprints​.infodiv​.unimelb​.edu​.au​/archive​ /00000680/ 6. Willard, Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works, 203. 7. Pierre Cockshaw, “Mentions d’auteurs, de copistes, d’enlumineurs et de libraires dans les comptes généraux de l’état Bourguignon (1384–1419),” Scriptorium 23 (1969), 122–44. 8. See the introduction to Book of Peace, for a more extended discussion. 9. The depictions of the cardinal virtues in Ms. Laud 570 are highly reminiscent of those in a copy of Aristotle’s Ethics that was painted in Rouen in the 1450s, Albert Douglas Menut, ed., Maistre Nicole Oresme, Le Livre de Ethiques d’Aristote, published from the text of MS 2902, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique (New York: G. E. Stechert & Co., 1940), 51 and 146. 10. Kenneth Bruce McFarlane, England in the Fifteenth Century (London: Hambledon Press, 1981), 202. 11. Ibid., 203. 12. Taylor, Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, 320–1; Jules Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 3:121–2; Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:181. 13. Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc. Her story, 206. 14. De Pisan, The Epistle of Othea, translated by Scrope Stephen (London: Early English Text Society, 1970), 122. 15. de Pisan, The Epistle of Othea to Hector or the Boke of Knyghthode, translated by Stephen Scrope (London: J. B. Nichols and Sons, 1904), xxxiii–iv. 16. Curt F. Bühler, “Sir John Fastolf’s Manuscript of the Epître d’Othéa and Stephen Scrope’s Translation of this Text,” Scriptorium 3 (1949), 123–8. 17. Poulett Scrope, History of the Manor and Ancient Barony of Castle Combe (London: J. B. Nichols and son, 1852), 266–7. 18. Joycelyne Gledhill Dickinson, The Congress of Arras 1435. A Study in Medieval Diplomacy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), 142–3.

Green_9781793613165.indb 210

15-04-2021 13:11:40

Christine’s Whereabouts

211

19. A. R. Smith, “Aspects of the Career of Sir John Fastolf,” PhD Dissertation, Oxford University, (1986). 20. Quicherat, Procès de condemnation, 4:405–24. 21. Berne, Bibliotheca Bongarsiana 205, ff. 62r–68r; Carpentras, Bibliothèque Inguimbertine 390. Ff. 81r–90v; Grenoble, Bibliothèque Municipale U. 909 Rés., ff. 98r–102r. 22. Auguste Longon, Paris pendant la domination anglaise (Paris: Champion, 1878), 338–9. 23. Pinet, Christine de Pisan, 192. 24. “Très excellent et puissant princesse, et nostre très redoubtée dame, mère de nostre souverain seigneur le roy, en laquelle il et nous tous ses subgiez avons esperance d’estre relevée la ruyne et desolacion du royaume.” Auguste Vallet de Viriville, “Advis à Isabelle de Bavière,” Bibliotheque de l’École des Chartes, 27e année, sixième série, tome 2 (1866) ; 128–57 (133). 25. Karen Green, “Could Christine de Pizan be the author of the ‘Advis à Isabelle de Bavière,’ BNF Ms. Fr. 1223?” Cahiers de recherches médiévales, 14 (2007), 211–29. 26. Contamine, Charles VII, 126; Jean-Patrice Boudet and Elsa Sené, “L’Avis à Yolande d’Aragon: un miroir au prince du temps de Charles VII,” Cahiers de recherches mediévales 24 (2012); Zita Eva Rohr, “The Practice of Political Motherhood in Late Medieval France: Yolande of Aragon, Bonne-Mère of France,” in The Image and Perception of Monarchy in Medieval and Early Modern France, ed. Sean McGlynn and Elena Woodcare (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 41–5. 27. Philippe Contamine and Françoise Autrand, “Reforme de l’etat et prise de pouvoir dans le royaume de France, d’apres deux traites du xvème siecle” (paper presented at the groupe de rechereche Les Pouvoirs XIIIe-XVIe siècles, Paris, 1984), 13–14. 28. Gruel, Chronique d’Arthur de Richemont Connétable de France, 10–12. 29. de Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, 2:315 and 51–99. 30. Viriville, “Advis à Isabelle de Bavière,” 140. 31. Contamine, Charles VII, 126. 32. Grandeau, Jeanne insultée: procès en diffamation. 33. Rachel Gibbons, “Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France (1385-1422): The Creation of an Historical Villainess,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society ser.6.6 (1996); “Les conciliatrices au bas Moyen Age: Isabeau de Bavière et la guerre civile (1401–1415),” in La guerre, la violence et les gens au Moyen Âge, edited by Philippe Contamine and Olivier Guyotjeannin (Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1996); “The Piety of Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France, 1385– 1422,” in Courts, Counties and the Capital in the Later Middle Ages, edited by Diana Dunn (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1996); Grandeau, “De Quelques dames”; Yann Grandeau, “Isabeau de Bavière ou l’amour conjugal,” a paper presented at the Congès National des sociétés savantes, Limoges, 1977; Tracy Adams, The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); “Isabeau de Bavière, le don et la politique de mécénat,” Le Moyen Age 117, no. 3 (2011). 34. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue, 43–5.

Green_9781793613165.indb 211

15-04-2021 13:11:41

212

Chapter 12

35. Longon, Paris pendant la domination anglaise, 85 and 280. 36. Yann Grandeau, “Les Dernieres années d’Isabeau de Bavière,” in Valenciennes et les anciens Pays-Bas: mélanges offerts à Paul Lefrancq (1976), 411–13. 37. Grandeau, “De Quelques dames,” 218. She was also called also called Jeanne de Vendôme, her father Robert Lord of La Chartre, her mother Lady of Chartres. 38. Grandeau, “De Quelques dames,” 201. 39. Foulques de Villaret, Louis de Coutes, 31. 40. Ibid., 39. 41. Dickinson, The Congress of Arras 1435, 179–81. 42. As pointed out to me by Earl Jeffrey Richards.

Green_9781793613165.indb 212

15-04-2021 13:11:41

Conclusion

The abbey of Mureau, which belonged to the Premonstratensian religious order, owned land in Domremy. It was located some kilometers southwest of the village. The Basilica, erected during the nineteenth century to celebrate Joan’s mission, lies at about the halfway point between the ruins of this abbey and Domremy. It was built on the site of a shrine discovered there and thought to be the place where Joan heard her voices. This location would have been a natural place for her to have met someone coming toward Domremy from the abbey so as to teach her how to behave. We saw that the Sibylla Francia claimed that a Premonstratensian monk had spoken of Joan gazing at the stars prior to her appearance in France, adding weight to the thought that she was known to this community, as having some special status and an interest in astrology, before she went into France. From the rehabilitation testimony we know that Joan was a pious person who often visited the shrine or hermitage of our lady at Bermont, which, in fact, appears to have been located about three kilometers north of Domremy in the opposite direction to Mureau. Some say that she visited this shrine weekly and that she was often seen going there. The fields in the surrounds of the castle of Brixey, along with the right to take firewood in the forests of Greux and Bermont, had been donated to the abbey of Mureau in the twelfth century.1 So all of this area was within the abbey’s domain. Christine says that she was in an abbey for eleven years weeping, but we need not take this too literally. If she were merely taking refuge in an abbey, she would not have been enclosed, and might well have sought to make herself useful tending the sick at a hospice, such as Bermont seems to have been. Joan says in her trial that her voices came to her in the woods and taught her how to behave. And her constant devout visits to the shrine at Bermont can easily be interpreted as cover for these educational assignations. The hermitage of our 213

Green_9781793613165.indb 213

15-04-2021 13:11:41

214

Conclusion

lady of Bermont is a significant distance from Domremy. Why did she go so far? A merely devout girl could have prayed in the village church. Visits to a more distant site of worship are explained if they are associated with the preparation for her mission. The hike, some few kilometers there and back, could itself have constituted part of the training for her later military exploits. Before leaving for Vaucouleurs, Joan spent some weeks at Brixey, where her uncle Durand Laxart lived, and this put her in even closer communication with the hermitage of Bermont. This stay at Brixey has no explanation on the traditional story of the naive girl, eager to take the message of her visions to Vaucouleurs. But it is perfectly understandable if her “voices” needed to complete her preparation, and in particular to perfect her handling of the lance. How might Christine have ended up a Mureau? Past scholars have assumed that she left Paris, after the Burgundian takeover, with her son and daughterin-law. Had she done so one would have expected her to have ended up at Bourges, or Tours, or Chinon, or one of the other places where Charles’s entourage spent time. It is not impossible, however, that Christine left Paris before the entry by the Burgundians. Once Isabeau had fled Paris, and with John of Berry deceased, she had lost her major patrons. With her son marrying and his wife becoming mistress of the house where she had lived and worked for many years, she may well have decided to return to Italy, where her brothers, who had returned years earlier, would have had an obligation to care for her. Although Domremy is not on the standard pilgrim trail to Italy, someone like Christine might have chosen to travel with a group of merchants, whose route could have taken them along the old Roman road that passes near Mureau. Had they heard, as they traveled, of the disaster that had befallen Paris, Christine could well have chosen to break her journey, in order to wait to hear the fate of her son and his family, ultimately becoming trapped at Mureau, as a result of the treason in Paris. Of course, this is just pure speculation, but it shows that it is not impossible to conceive how Christine could have found herself trapped in an abbey not far from Domremy. As has been noted, had she been there she would not have been completely isolated, but would have been close to an important north/south artery, likely to have been used by old acquaintances, such as Jean de Châteaumorand and Alan Chartier, as they traveled on their various diplomatic missions between Bourges, Dijon, and Brussels. She may even have become involved in making new copies of some of her works, to be presented on these missions, and have written new works. One new work written during this period, the Heures de contemplacion sur la Passion de Nostre Seigneur Jhesucrist, has been attributed to her, making two new works, if my speculations in regard to the authorship of the Advis are accepted.2 It has generally been assumed that all the manuscripts copied in Christine’s hand were made before she left Paris

Green_9781793613165.indb 214

15-04-2021 13:11:41

Conclusion

215

in 1418, but there really is no reason why she should not have made some late copies, during the period 1418 to 1431. Indeed, since her works were her only source of income, one might expect that, in order to survive, she would have continued to make copies, even after having left Paris, and this would help explain how she managed to create so many autograph manuscripts. An abbey would in all likelihood have had a scriptorium, or at the very least, the facilities necessary for copying manuscripts, so there is no reason to assume that none of the autograph manuscripts that have survived are from this later period. Let us suppose then that, somehow or other, Christine found herself trapped at the abbey of Mureau. As we have seen, she believed in the prophetic tradition and in the possibility of predicting propitious times for undertaking military and other enterprises, as did many of her contemporaries. The Charlemagne prophecy pointed to the date 1429. Did she begin to hope that this would be fulfilled and begin to work toward encouraging this outcome? It is not clear why Joan was chosen to be the instrument to bring about the circulating prophecies. Perhaps it was simply that, having been approached she was willing to remain a virgin and take up the mission. Possibly there were signs in her horoscope which pointed to her. The “Ascendit virgo” prophecy is naturally read as pointing to a time when the constellation Virgo ascends near Sagittarius in the summer sky.3 Perhaps she bore some mark. The Premonstratensian monk mentioned by the clerk of Speyer says that she liked to look at the stars, and an auspicious horoscope would be just the kind of sign that would be taken seriously by both Christine and other members of the court. Boulainvilliers claimed that she was born on the eve of the Epiphany and this could well have been a reason for thinking that she had a special destiny, but his testimony is not very reliable and would not accord with the astrological reading of the “Ascendit virgo.” Whatever led to her being chosen, Joan was too sensible and rational a person to have gone to Chinon on the basis of hallucinations. She must have been convinced by people she respected and trusted to undertake the role assigned to her, and it is clear that there were times when she wondered whether she was up to it. She had promised to keep the element of contrivance in her appearance secret, as she says at her trial. Under pressure her very human counselors became hallucinations and voices. But this should not make us think that she failed to be filled with the spirit of God. She acted on divine inspiration in the same way that others in history have acted. She was taught to believe in the intentions of God, by human agents, who sincerely believed in the prophetic tradition and the hope that it offered to the Dauphin and France. I believe that we can conclude that there was an element of contrivance in Joan’s appearance. This is not to argue that she was any less a saint, or that cynicism motivated those who encouraged her. Rather, as le Franc says,

Green_9781793613165.indb 215

15-04-2021 13:11:42

216

Conclusion

she both learned how to carry a lance and support armor and was spiritually enflamed. Her voices convinced her that she was sent by God to carry out the prophetic tidings of the Charlemagne prophecy. They were reliable and devout people, who believed in the Virgin’s intercessionary power, the coming of a third age of peace, and in the prophesied victory of the French monarch over the English and the Saracens. Critics who are committed to the standard tale will no doubt object that all that has been offered here is circumstantial evidence. There is no knock down proof that the fairy tale is false. There is no compelling proof that Christine was involved. The psychological profile of Christine certainly suggests that if someone trained Joan, then Christine might have, but psychological profiles, for all their popularity in crime drama, have little currency in historical studies. The traditional story is well-established, and established falsehoods are like old stains. They are difficult to remove from the collective consciousness. But, as David Hume argued in the eighteenth century, any plausible naturalistic explanation of events should be preferred to one that involves miracles. It takes an extreme level of religious enthusiasm to believe that God chose to secure the future of the crown of France by dictating a divine timetable to an illiterate girl from the borders of France close to Lorraine. It is, by contrast, perfectly compatible with all we know of the worldview of those who were Joan’s contemporaries to believe that they would have been inspired by their knowledge of prophecy, and belief in coming propitious circumstances, to have done all they could to have aided the fulfillment of God’s predicted plans for France and Christendom. As Christine said: Yes I believe that such great grace Would not be bestowed by God If you were not, in time and space, By Him ordained To complete and achieve Some great and solemn thing And that He has destined You to be the instrument of this great feat.

Joan was sent by God to be the instrument of the fulfillment of the Charlemagne prophecy. She had become convinced of this, and her early successes, in particular, the raising of the siege of Orleans, convinced others that this was the case. At the very least, the coincidences which have convinced me that the account sketched here is more likely to be true than the standard fairy tale should serve as an impetus for other scholars to look again at the evidence.

Green_9781793613165.indb 216

15-04-2021 13:11:42

Conclusion

217

NOTES 1. André Philippe and Raymonde Florence, eds., “Clergé Régulier Avant 1790, 20 H, Abbaye de Mureau,” in Série H (Épinal: Archives départmentales des Voges, 1933/2004), XX H4. 2. Christine de Pizan, Heures de contemplacion sur la Passion de Nostre Seigneur Jhesucrist (Paris: Champion, 2017). 3. Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate, 63, n. 34.

Green_9781793613165.indb 217

15-04-2021 13:11:42

Green_9781793613165.indb 218

15-04-2021 13:11:42

Bibliography

PRIMARY SOURCES Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno, edited by Robert M. Durling and Ronald L. Martinez, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. ———. Monarchy, edited and translated by Prue Shaw, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Altmann, Barbara K. The Love Debate Poems of Christine de Pizan. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1998. Anselme de Sainte Marie, Père. Histoire généalogique et chonologique de la maison royale de France, des pairs, grands officiers de la Couronne et de la Maison du Roy et des anciens barons du royaume, avec les qualitez, l’origine, le progrès et les armes de leurs familles. Paris: Companie des Libraires Associés, 1726–33. Ayroles, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph. La vraie Jeanne d’Arc. 5 vols. Paris, 1890–98. Barrett, W. P. The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1931. Bellaguet, M. L., ed. Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys. 6 vols. Paris: Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1994. Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate, ed. The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 1998. Champier, Symphorien. La nef des Dames. Lyon: Jacques Arnollet, 1503. ———. La nef des Dames. Paris: Jehan Delagarde, 1515. Champion, Pierre. Proces de Condamnation de Jeanne d’Arc. 2 vols. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1921. Chartier, Alain. The Quarrel of the Belle dame sans mercy. Translated by Joan E McRae, Routledge Medieval Texts. London: Routledge, 2004. ———. Le Livre de l’espérance. Edited by François Rouy. Paris: Champion, 1989. Chazaud, A.-M, ed. La chronique du bon duc Loys de Bourbon. Paris: SHF, 1876. Curnow, Maureen Cheney. ‘The “Livre de la Cité des Dames” of Christine de Pisan: A Critical Edition’, PhD Dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1975.

219

Green_9781793613165.indb 219

15-04-2021 13:11:42

220

Bibliography

Cuvelier. Le Chanson de Bertrand Du Guesclin. 3 vols. Toulouse: Editions Universitaires du Sud, 1990. Deschamps, Eustache. Oeuvres Complete de Eustache Deschamps. 11 vols. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966. Reprint, Johnson reprint 1966. Franc, Martin Le. Le Champion des Dames. Robert Deschaux ed. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1999. ———. Le Champion des Dames. Lausanne: Librairie Payot, 1968. Gruel, Guillaume. Chronique d’Arthur de Richemont Connétable de France, Duc de Bretagne (1393–1458), edited by Achille le Vavasseur. Paris: Librairie Renouard, 1890. Hicks, Eric, ed. Le Débat sur le Roman de la Rose. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1977. Laidlaw, James, ed. The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974. Lalande, Denis, ed. Le Livre des fais du bon messire Jehan le Maingre dit Bouciquaut. Geneva: Droz, 1985. Longon, Auguste. Paris pendant la domination anglaise. Paris: Champion, 1878. Lorris, Guillaume de, and Jean de Meun. The Romance of the Rose. Translated by Frances Horgan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Menut, Albert Douglas, ed. Maistre Nicole Oresme, Le Livre de Ethiques d’Aristote, published from the text of MS 2902, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique. New York: G. E. Stechert & Co., 1940. Monstrelet, Enguerrand. Chronicles of England, France Spain and the adjoining countries. Translated by Thomas Johnes. 2 vols. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849. O’Reilly, E. Les Deux Procès de Condamnation les Enquètes et la sentence de Réhabilitation de Jeanne d’Arc. Paris: Henri Plon, 1868. Phares, Simon de. Le recueil des plus celebres astrologues de Simon de Phares. 2 vols. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1997–9. Philippe, André, and Raymonde Florence, eds. ‘Clergé Régulier Avant 1790, 20 H, Abbaye de Mureau.’ In Série H, Archives départmentales des Voges. Épinal, 1933/2004. Pisan, Christine de. The Epistle of Othea. Translated by Scrope Stephen. London: Early English Text Society, 1970. ———. The Epistle of Othea to Hector or the Boke of Knyghthode. Translated by Stephen Scrope. London: J. B. Nichols and Sons, 1904. Pius II [Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini]. Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope: Commentaries of Pius II. Translated by Florence A Gragg. Edited by Leona C. Gabel. New York: 1962. Pizan, Christine de. The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry. Translated by Sumner Willard. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999. ———. The Book of the Body Politic. Translated by Kate Forhan, Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ———. The Book of the City of Ladies. Translated by Earl Jeffrey Richards. London: Picador, 1983. ———. The Book of Peace. Translated by Constant J. Mews Karen Green, Janice Pinder. University Park: Penn State, 2008

Green_9781793613165.indb 220

15-04-2021 13:11:43

Bibliography

221

———. Christine’s Vision. Translated by Glenda K. McLeod. New York: Garland, 1993. ———. The Epistle of the Prison of Human Life with An Epistle to the Queen of France and Lament on the Evils of the Civil War. Translated by Josette Wiseman. London and New York: Garland Library of Medieval Literature, 1984. ———. Epistre Othea. Edited by Gabriella Parussa. Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1999. ———. La Città delle dame. Translated by Patrizia Caraffi. Edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards. Milano & Trento: Luni Editrice, 1997. ———. Le Chemin de longue étude. Edited by Andrea Tarnowski. Paris: Livre de Poche, 2000. ———. Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc. Translated by Angus J. Kennedy and Kenneth Varty. Edited by Angus J Kennedy and Kenneth Varty. Oxford: Medium Aevum Monographs, 1977. ———. Heures de contemplacion sur la Passion de Nostre Seigneur Jhesucrist. Edited and translated by Lilianne Dulac and René Stuip. Paris: Champion, 2017 ———. Le Livre de l’advision Cristine. Edited by Liliane Dulac and Christine Reno. Paris: Champion, 2001. ———. Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune. Edited by Susanne Solente. 4 vols. Paris: Éditions A & J Picard, 1959. ———. Le Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V. ed. Suzanne Solente ed. 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1936-40. Reprint, Geneva, Slatkine, 1975. ———. Le Livre des faits et bonnes moeurs du roi Charles V le Sage. Translated by Eric Hicks and Thérèse Moreau. Paris: Stock, 1997. ———. Le Livre des trois vertus. Edited by Charity Cannon Willard and Eric Hicks. Paris: Champion, 1989. ———. Le Livre du corps de policie. Edited by Angus J. Kennedy. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1998. ———. Oeuvres Poétiques de Christine de Pisan. Edited by Maurice Roy. 3 vols. Paris: Librarie de Firmin Didot et Cie, 1886. Reprint, Johnson Reprints, 1965. ———. Othea’s Letter to Hector, Translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Earl Jeffrey Richards, Toronto, Ontario: Iter Press, 2017. ———. The Treasure of the City of Ladies. Translated by Sarah Lawson. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985. Quicherat, Jules, ed. Procès de condemnation et de réhabilitation de Jeanne d’Arc. 5 vols. Paris: SHF, 1841–49. ———. Relation inédite sur Jeanne d’Arc. Extraite du Livre noir de l’hotel-de-ville de la Rochelle (Orleans: H. Herluison, 1879) ———. ‘Supplément aux temoignages contemporains sur Jeanne d’Arc.’ Revue Historique 19 (1882): 60–83. Rouy, François. ‘Alain Chartier: Le Livre de L’Esperance.’ Collège Litteraire Universitaire de Brest, 1967. Scott, W. S., ed. The Trial of Joan of Arc: being the verbatim report of the proceedings from the Orleans Manuscript. London: The Folio Society, 1956. Shirley, J., ed. A Parisian Journal, 1405–49. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968.

Green_9781793613165.indb 221

15-04-2021 13:11:43

222

Bibliography

Taylor, Craig, ed. The Chivalric Biography of Boucicaut, Jean II le Meingre. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2016. ———. Joan of Arc, La Pucelle, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006. Virgil. Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid I–VI, translated by H. Rushton Fairclough. London: Harvard University Press, 1999. Viriville, Auguste Vallet de. ‘Advis à Isabelle de Bavière.’ Bibiothèque de l’Ecole des Chartes ser 6, 2 (1866): 128–57. ———. Chronique de Charles VII de Jean Chartier. 3 vols. Paris. 1858. ———. Chronique de la Pucelle. Paris: Garnier Frères, 1859. Weyer, Johann. Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the Renaissance: de praestigiis daemonum. Translated by John Shea. Binghamton: Medieval and renaissance Texts and Studies, 1991. Willard, Charity Cannon, ed. The Writings of Christine de Pizan. New York: Persea, 1994. Worcester, William. The Boke of Noblesse Addressed to King Edward the Fourth on his invasion of France in 1475, ed. John Gough Nichols. London: The Roxburghe Club, 1860.

SECONDARY SOURCES Adams, Tracy. ‘Isabeau de Bavière, le don et la politique de mécénat.’ Le Moyen Age 117, no. 3 (2011): 475–86 ———. The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. ———. Christine De Pizan and the Fight for France. University Park, PA.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014. Armstrong, C. A. J. ‘La Politique Matrimoniale des ducs de Bourgogne.’ In France, England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century, 237–342. London: The Hambeldon Press, 1983. ———. ‘Sir John Fastolf and the Law of Arms.’ In England, France and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century, 123–33. London: Hambledon Press, 1883. Astell, Ann W. ‘The Virgin Mary and the “voices” of Joan of Arc.’ In Joan of Arc and Spirituality, edited by Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler, 37–60. New Your: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Autrand, Françoise. Christine de Pizan. Une femme en politique. Paris: Fayard, 2009. Ayroles, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph. ‘La vénérable Jeanne d’Arc, prophétisée et prophétesse.’ Revue des questions historiques 79, n.s. 35 (1906): 28–56. Balteau, J., and et al. Dictionnaire de biographie française. 19 vols. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933–2000. Bath, Michael. The Image of the Stag: Iconographic themes in Western Art. Baden Baden: verlag Valentin Koerner, 1982. Beaucourt, G. du Fresne de. Histoire de Charles VII. 5 vols. Paris, 1881–91. Beaune, Colette. Jeanne d’Arc. Paris: Perrin, 2004. ———. Jeanne d’Arc vérités et légendes. Paris: Perrin, 2008.

Green_9781793613165.indb 222

15-04-2021 13:11:43

Bibliography

223

Beaune, Colette, and Élodie Lequain. ‘Marie de Berry et les livres.’ In Livres et Lectures de femmes en Europe entre Moyen Âge et Renaissance edited by AnneMarie Legaré, 49–66. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007. Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Translated by H. M. Parshley. London: Vintage, 1997. Bernard, Robert B. ‘The Intellectual Circle of Isabel of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, and the Portuguese translation of Le Livre des Trois Vertus (O Liuro dos Tres Vertudes).’ In The Reception of Christine de Pizan from the Fifteenth through the Nineteenth Centuries: Visitors to the City, edited by Glenda K. McLeod, 43–58. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1991. Blamires, Alcuin. The Case for Women in Medieval Culture. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Blayney, Margaret S. ‘Alain Chartier and Joachism?’ Modern Language Notes 70 (1955): 506–9. Bossard, Abbé Eugène. Gilles de Rais Maréchal de France dit Barbe-Bleue. Grenoble: Jérôme Millon, 1992. Bossy, Michel-André. ‘Arms and the Bride: Christine de Pizan’s Military Treatise as a Wedding Gift for Margaret of Anjou.’ In Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference, edited by Marilynn Desmond, 236–56. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998. Boudet, Jean-Patrice, and Elsa Sené, ‘L’Avis à Yolande d’Aragon: un miroir au prince du temps de Charles VII’, Cahiers de recherches mediévales 24 (2012), 51–84. Bouzy, Olivier. ‘Prédiction ou récuperation, les prophéties autour de Jeanne d’Arc dans les premiers mois de l’année 1429.’ Bulletin de l’Association des Amis du Centre Jeanne d’Arc 14 (1990): 39–47. ———. Jeanne d’Arc, l’histoire à l’endroit. Tours: CLD, 2008. Bozzolo, Carla, and Hélène Loyau. La Cour Amoureuse dite de Charles VI. 2 vols. Paris: Leopard d’Or, 1982. Bradley, Nancy Warren. ‘The Life and Afterlife of St. Colette of Corbie: Religion, Politics, and Networks of Power.’ In A Companion to Colette of Corbie, edited by Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley, 6–31. Leiden: Brill, 2016 Broad, Jacqueline and Karen Green, A History of Women’s Political Thought in Europe, 1400–1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Broussillon, Bertrand de. La Maison Laval 1020–1605. Étude historique accompagnée du cartulaire de Laval et Vitré. 5 vols. Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1898. Brown, Cynthia. ‘The Reconstruction of an Author in Print.’ In Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference, edited by Marilynn Desmond, 215–35. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998. Brownlee, Kevin. ‘Hector and Penthesilea in the Livre de la Mutation de Fortune: Christine de Pizan and the Politics of Myth.’ In Une femme de Lettres au Moyen Age, edited by Lilian Dulac and Bernard Ribémont, 69–82. Orléans: Paradigme, 1995. Bühler, Curt F. ‘Sir John Fastolf’s Manuscript of the Epître d’Othéa and Stephen Scrope’s Translation of this Text.’ Scriptorium 3 (1949): 123–8.

Green_9781793613165.indb 223

15-04-2021 13:11:44

224

Bibliography

Burr, David, Olivi’s Peaceable Kingdom. A Reading of the Apocalypse Commentary, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993. Campbell, P. G. C. ‘Christine de Pisan en Angleterre.’ Revue de littérature comparée 5 (1925): 659–70. Castel, Françoise du. Damoiselle Christine de Pizan, Veuve de M. Etienne de Castel, 1364–1431. Paris: A. and J. Picard, 1972. ———. Ma Grand-mère Christine de Pizan. Paris: Hachette, 1936. Castor, Helen, Joan of Arc, a History, London: Faber and Faber, 2014. Champion, Pierre. Histoire Poetique du Quinzieme Siecle. Paris: Honore Champion, 1923. ———. La Librarie de Charles d’Orléans. Paris, 1910. ———. ‘Notes sur Jenne d’Arc.’ Le Moyen âge 2nd series, 13 (1909): 370–7. ———. Vie de Charles d’Orléans (1394–1465). Paris: Champion, 1969. Chaume, Maurice. ‘Une prophétie relative à Charles VI.’ Revue de Moyen Age Latin 3 (1947): 27–42. Chazan, Mireille. ‘Conclusions.’ Cahiers de recherches Mediévales et Humanistes 24 (2012): 149–54. Clin, Marie-Veronique. Isabeau de Bavière. Saint-Amand-Montrond [Cher]: Perrin, 1999. Cockshaw, Pierre. ‘Mentions d’auteurs, de copistes, d’enlumineurs et de libraires dans les comptes généraux de l’état Bourguignon (1384–1419)’, Scriptorium 23 (1969), 122–44. Contamine, Philippe. Charles VII. Une vie, une politique. Paris: Perrin, 2017. ———, ‘Mythe et Histoire: Jeanne d’Arc, 1429’. In De Jeanne d’Arc aux guerres d’Italie: Figures, images et problèmes du XVe siècle, 63–76. Orleans: Paradigme, 1994. ———. ‘Saint Michel au ciel de Jeanne dArc.’ In Culte et Pèlerinages à Saint Michel en occident. Les trois monts dediés à l’Archange, edited by Pierre Bouet, Georgio Otrranto and André Vauchez, 365–85. Rome: École Française de Rome, 2003. ———. ‘Signe, miracle, merveille, réactions contemporaines au phénomène Jeanne d’Arc’. In Miracles, Prodiges et Merveilles au Moyen Âge XXVe Congrès de la S. H. E. S. (Orleans, Juin 1994). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995. ———. ‘Yolande d’Aragon et Jeanne d’Arc: l’improbable rencontre de deux parcours politiques.’ In Femmes de pouvoir, femmes politiques durant les derniers siècles du Moyen Âge et au cours de la première Renaissance, edited by Éric Bousmar, Jonathan Dumont, Alain Marchandisse and Bertrand Schnerb, 11–30. Brussels: de boeck, 2012. Contamine, Philippe, and Françoise Autrand. ‘Reforme de l’etat et prise de pouvoir dans le royaume de France, d’apres deux traites du xvème siecle.’ Paper presented at the groupe de rechereche Les Pouvoirs XIIIe-XVIe siècles, Paris, 1984. Cropp, Glynnis. ‘Les personnages féminins tirés de l’histoire de la France dans le Livre de la Cité des Dames.’ In Une Femme de lettres au Moyen Age, edited by Lilian Dulac and B Ribémont, 195–208. Orléans: Paradigme, 1995. Daly, Kathleen. ‘“Centre”, “Power” and “Periphery” in Late Medieval French Historiography: Some Reflections.’ In War, Government and Power in Late

Green_9781793613165.indb 224

15-04-2021 13:11:45

Bibliography

225

Medieval France, edited by Christopher Allmand, 124–44. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000. David-Darnac, Maurice. Le Dossier de Jehanne. Paris: Jean-Jacques Pauvert, 1968. Delisle, Léopold. ‘Nouveau témoinage relatif à la mission de Jeanne d’Arc.’ Bibiothèque de l’Ecole de Chartes 46 (1885): 649–68. Desmond, Marilynn, ed. Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998. Dickinson, Joycelyne Gledhill. The Congress of Arras 1435. A study in Medieval Diplomacy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955. Famiglietti, R. C. Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI. New York: AMS Press, 1986. Fornier, Marcellin. Histoire générale des Alpes Maritimes ou Cottiènes. 3 vols. Paris: Champion, 1890-92. Foulques de Villaret, Amicie de. Louis de Coutes. Orléans: n.p, 1890. Fraioli, Deborah. ‘Gerson Judging Women of Spirit: from female mystics to Joan of Arc.’ In Joan of Arc and Spirituality, edited by Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler, 147–65. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 ———. Joan of Arc: The Early Debate. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000. ———. ‘L’Image de Jeanne d’Arc. Que doit-elle au milieux religieux de son temps.’ Paper presented at the Jenne d’Arc une époque une rayonnement. Colloque d’histoire médiévale, Paris 1979. ———. ‘The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences.’ Speculum 56 (1981): 811–13. ———. ‘Why Joan of Arc Never Became an Amazon.’ In Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 189–204. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. Francq, H. G. ‘Jean Gerson’s Theological Treatise and other Memoires in Defence of Joan of Arc.’ Revue de l’Université d’Ottowa 41 (1971): 58–80. Fresne de Beaucourt, G. du. Histoire de Charles VII. Paris: Librairie de la Societé Bibliographique, 1881–8. Gay, Marcel, and Roger Senzig. L’affaire Jeanne d’Arc. Paris: Florent Massot, 2007. Gibbons, Rachel. ‘Isabeau of Bavaria, queen of France (1385–1422): the creation of an historical villainess.’ Transactions of the Royal Historical Society ser.6.6 (1996): 51–73. ———. ‘Les conciliatrices au bas Moyen Age: Isabeau de Bavière et la guerre civile (1401-1415).’ In La guerre, la violence et les gens au Moyen Âge, edited by Philippe Contamine and Olivier Guyotjeannin, 23–33. Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1996. ———. ‘The Piety of Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France, 1385-1422.’ In Courts, Counties and the Capital in the Later Middle Ages, edited by Diana Dunn, 205-24. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1996. Grandeau, Yann. ‘De Quelques dames qui ont servi la reine Isabeau de Bavière.’ Bulletin Philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1975): 129–239.

Green_9781793613165.indb 225

15-04-2021 13:11:45

226

Bibliography

———. ‘Isabeau de Bavière ou l’amour conjugal.’ Paper presented at the Congès National des sociétés savantes, Limoges 1977. ———. Jeanne insultée: procès en diffamation. Paris: Albin Michel, 1973. ———. ‘L’Exercice de la Piéte a la cour de France les devotions d’Isabeau de Bavière.’ Paper presented at the Jenne d’Arc une époque une rayonnement. Colloque d’histoire médiévale, Orléans 1979. ———. ‘Le Dauphin Jean duc de Touraine.’ Bulletin Philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1968): 665–728. ———. ‘Les Dernieres années d’Isabeau de Baviere.’ In Valenciennes et les anciens Pays-Bas: mélanges offerts à Paul Lefrancq, 411–28, 1976. ———. ‘Les enfants de Charles VI: essai sur la vie privée des princes et de princesses de la maison de France a la fin du Moyen Age.’ Bulletin philologique et historique du comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1967): 809–50. Green, Karen. ‘Christine de Pizan and the Prophetic Tradition.’ In Christine de Pizan. La scrittrice e la città. Christine de Pizan: L’ Ecrivaine la ville. Christine de Pizan. The Woman Writer and the City, edited by Giovana Angelli and Patrizia Caraffi, 31-40. Florence: Alinea, 2013. ———. ‘Could Christine de Pizan be the author of the « Advis à Isabelle de Bavière », BNF Ms. fr. 1223?’ Cahiers de recherches médiévales, 14 (2007): 211–29. ———. ‘Isabeau de Bavière and the Political Philosophy of Christine de Pizan.’ Historical Reflections/Reflexions Historiques 32, no. 2 (2006): 247–72. ———. ‘Isolated Individual or Member of a Feminine Courtly Community? Christine de Pizan’s Milieu.’ In Communities of Learning: Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe 1100-150, edited by Constant Mews and John Crossley, 229–50. Turnhout: Brepols, 2011. ———. ‘On Translating Christine de Pizan as a Philosopher.’ In Healing the Body Politic: The Political Thought of Christine de Pizan, edited by Karen Green and Constant J. Mews, 117–37. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005. ———. ‘Phronesis Feminized, Prudence from Christine de Pizan to Elizabeth I.’ In Virtue, Liberty and Toleration: Political Ideas of European Women 1400-1800, edited by Jacqueline Broad and Karen Green, 23–38. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007 ———. ‘Was Christine de Pizan at Poissy 1418-1429?’, Medium Ævum 83, no. 1 (2014): 28–40. Grimod, Jeanne. Jeanne d’Arc a-t-elle été brûlé? Paris: n.p, 1952. Hallopeau, Louis-Alfred. Essai sur l’histoire des comtes et ducs de Vendôme. Paris: Vendôme, 1911. Hanley, Sarah. ‘The politics of identity and monarchic governance in France: the debate over female exclusion.’ In Women Writers and the Early Modern British Political Tradition, edited by Hilda Smith, 289–304. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Henneman, John. Olivier Clisson and Political Society in France under Charles V and Charles VI. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. Hicks, Eric. ‘Le Livre des Trois Vertus of Christine de Pizan: Beinecke ms. 427’, Yale French Studies 80 (1991): 57–71.

Green_9781793613165.indb 226

15-04-2021 13:11:45

Bibliography

227

Hindman, Sandra. Christine de Pizan’s “Épistre Othea” Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986. Hoffman, Edward Joseph. Alain Chartier: His work and reputation. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1975. Holder-Egger, Oswald. ‘Italienische Prophetieen des 13. Jahrhunderts I’, Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 15 (1890), 143–86. ———. ‘Italienische Prophetieen des 13. Jahrhunderts II,’ Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 30 (1905), 323–86. Huart, A. Jacques de Bourbon, Roi de Sicile Frére mineur cordelier a Besançon (1370–1438). Maison Saint-Roch (Belgium): Couvin, 1909. Huber, Franziska. ‘L’Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César, source du Livre de la Mutation de Fortune de Christine de Pizan: étude comparative des récits sur Cyrus.’ In Au champ des escriptures, edited by Eric Hicks, 161–74. Paris: Champion, 2000. Jones, Michael K. ‘“Gardez mon corps, suavez ma terre”.’ In Charles d’Orléans in England 1415–1440, edited by Mary-Jo Arn, 9–26. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2000. Kennedy, Angus J. ‘La Date du Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc.’ In Au champ des escriptures, edited by Eric Hicks, 759–70. Paris: Champion, 2000. Kosta-Théfaine, Jean-François. Prophétie et histoire dans le “Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc” de Christine de Pizan. Paris: ressouvenances, 2014. Krynen, Jacques. Idéal du prince et pourvoir royal en France à la fin du Moyen Age (1380–1440). Étude de la litterature politique du temps. Paris: Picard, 1981 Laidlaw, James. ‘Alan Chartier and the Arts of Crisis Management, 1417–1429.’ In War, Government and Power in Later Medieval France, edited by Christopher Allmand, 37–53. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000. ———. ‘Christine De Pisan, the Earl of Salisbury, and Henry IV.’ French Studies 36, no. 2 (1982): 361–74. ———. ‘Christine de Pizan and the Manuscript Tradition.’ In Christine de Pizan: A Casebook, edited by Barbara K. Altmann and Deborah McGrady, 231–49. New York and London: Routledge, 2003. ———. ‘Christine de Pizan: A Publisher’s Progress.’ Modern Language Review 82 (1987): 35–75. ———. ‘Christine de Pizan, le duc de Bourbon et le manuscrit de la reine (Londres, British Library, Harley MS 4431).’ In La Chevalerie du Moyen Age à nos jours: mélanges offerts á Michel Stanesco, edited by Mihaela Voicu and Victor-Dinu Vladulesco, 332–44. Bucharest: Editura Universitătii din Bucuresti, 2003. ———. ‘Les Belles dames sans mercy d’Alain Chartir.’ In Autour de Marguerite d’Ecosse, reines, princesses et dames du XVe siècle, edited by Geneviève Contamine and Philippe Contamine, 33–44. Paris: Champion, 1999. Lalande, Denis. Jean II le Meingre, dit Boucicaut. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1988. Lang, Andrew. The Maid of France. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908. Lehoux, Françoise. Jean de France, duc de Berri: sa vie, son action politique (13401416), 4 vols. Paris: Picard, 1966–1968. Little, Roger G. The Parlement of Poitiers. War, Government and Politics in France 1418–1466. London: Royal Historical Society, 1984.

Green_9781793613165.indb 227

15-04-2021 13:11:46

228

Bibliography

Luce, Siméon. Jeanne d’Arc à Domremy. Paris: Champion, 1886. Lutkus, Anne, and Julia Walker. ‘Pr pas Pc Christine de Pizan’s Pro-Joan Propagande.’ In Fresh Verdicts of Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 145–60. New York: Garland, 1996. Margetit-Bremond, P. Le Puy et ses Environs. Le Puy: n.p., 1920. Marot, Pierre, ‘Etudes sur l’abbaye de Mureau’, Bulletin trimestriel de la Société d’émulation des Voges 4, no. 2 (1923), 40–52. ———. ‘Etudes sur l’abbaye de Mureau (suite)’, Bulletin trimestriel de la Société d’émulation des Voges 5, no. 4 (1924), 72–83. Masour-Matusevich, Yelena. ‘A Reconsideration of Jean Gerson’s attitude toward Joan of Arc in light of his views on popular devotion.’ In Joan of Arc and Spirituality, edited by Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler, 167–82. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Mattéoni, Olivier. ‘Portrait du prince idéal et idéologie nobilaire dans “La Chronique du bon duc Loys de Bourbon”.’ Studi Francesi 117 (1995): 1–23. McFarlane, Kenneth Bruce. England in the Fifteenth Century. London: Hambledon Press, 1981. McGuire, Brian Patrick. ‘Jean Gerson, the Schulamite, and the Maid.’ In Joan of Arc and Spirituality, edited by Ann W. Astell and Bonnie Wheeler, 183–92. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. McLeod, Enid. Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet. London: Chatto and Windus, 1969. ———. The Order of the Rose; the life and ideas of Christine de Pizan. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1976. Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: the Limbourgs and their Contemporaries. London: Phaidon, 1974. Merkle, Gertrude H. ‘Martin Le Franc’s Commentary on Jean Gerson’s Treatise on Joan of Arc.’ In Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 177–88. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. Meyer, Paul. ‘Les premières compilations françaises d’histoire ancienne.’ Romania 14 (1885): 1–81. Michaud-Fréjaville, Françoise, ‘“Fors nature”: Dieu, le roi Charles et la Pucelle, ou Faut-il changer notre titre du Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc?’, Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes 25 (2013), 545–58. Michelet, Jules. Jeanne D’Arc (1412–1432). Paris: Hachette, 1888. Minois, Georges. Charles VII. Un Roi Shakespearien. Paris: Perrin, 2005. Mombello, Gianni. ‘Christine de Pizan and the House of Savoy.’ In Reinterpreting Christine de Pizan, edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards, 187–204. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1992. ———. La tradizione manoscritta dell’“Epistre Othéa” di Christine de Pizan. Torino: Accademia delle Scienze, 1967. Mooney, Colleen Lily. ‘Queenship in Fifteenth Century France.’ PhD, Ohio State University, 1977. Moynihan, Robert, ‘The development of the “psuedo-Joachim” commentary “super Heiremiam”: new manuscript evidence’, Mélanges de l’Ecole française de Rome. Moyen-Age, Temps modernes 98 (1986), 109–42.

Green_9781793613165.indb 228

15-04-2021 13:11:46

Bibliography

229

Murray, Margaret. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921. Naughton, Joan. ‘Manuscripts from the Dominican Monastery of Saint-Louis de Poissy’ PhD diss. University of Melbourne, 1995 online at http://eprints​.infodiv​ .unimelb​.edu​.au​/archive​/00000680/ Orliac, Jehanne d’. Yolande d’Aragon la reine des Quatre Royaumes. Paris: Librarie Plon, 1933. Ouy, Gilbert. ‘Charles d’Orléans and his Brother Jean d’Angoulême in England: What their manuscripts have to tell.’ In Charles d’Orléans in England 1415–1440, edited by Mary-Jo Arn, 47–60. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2000. ———. La librairie des frères captifs. Les manuscrits de Charles d’Orléans et Jean d’Angoulême. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007. Ouy, Gilbert, and Christine M. Reno. ‘Identification des autographes de Christine de Pizan.’ Scriptorium 34 (1980): 221–38. ———. ‘Les Hésitations de Christine: Etudes des variantes de graphies dans trois manuscripts autographes de Christine de Pizan.’ Revue des Langues Romanes 92, no. 2 (1988): 256–93. ———. ‘Où mène le Chemin de long estude? Christine de Pizan, Ambrogio Migli et les ambitions impériales de Louis d’Orléans.’ In Christine de Pizan 2000, Studies in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by J Campbell and Nadia Margolis, 177–95 and 325–28. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. Ouy, Gilbert, Christine Reno, and Inès Villela-Petit, Album Christine de Pizan, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. Paris, Gaston. ‘Un poème inédite de Martin Le Franc.’ Romania 16 (1887): 383–437. Parussa, Gabriella. ‘Orthographes et autographes. Quelques considérations sur l’orthographe de Christine de Pizan.’ Romania 117 (1999): 143–58. Pernoud, Régine. Christine de Pisan. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1982. ———. La Libération d’Oréans. Paris: Gallimard, 1969. Pernoud, Régine, and Marie-Veronique Clin. Joan of Arc. Her story. Translated by Jeremy duQuesnay Adams. London: Phoenix Press, 2000. Perrin, Elizabeth Sainte-Marie. La belle vie de sainte Colette de Corbie: 1381–1447. Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1921. Pétigny, J. de. ‘Charte inédite et secrète de la reine Isabelle de Bavière.’ Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des Chartes 10 (1848–9): 329–38. Piaget, Arthur. ‘La Cour Amoureuse Dite de Charles VI.’ Romania 20 (1891): 415–54. ———. ‘Un manuscript de la Cour amoureuse de Charles VI.’ Romania 31 (1902): 597–603. Picherit, Jean-Louis. ‘Christine de Pisan et le Livre des faicts du bon messire Jean le Maingre, dit Boucicaut, mareschal de France et governeur de Gennes.’ Romania 103 (1982): 299–331. Pinet, Marie-Josèphe. Christine de Pisan. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1974. Pinzino, Jane Marie. ‘But where to draw the line? Colette of Corbie, Joan of Arc and the Expanding Boundaries of Women’s Leadership in the Fifteenth Century.’ In A Companion to Colette of Corbie, edited by Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley, 56–75. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

Green_9781793613165.indb 229

15-04-2021 13:11:47

230

Bibliography

Reeves, Marjorie. ‘Dante and the Prophetic View of History.’ In The World of Dante, edited by C. Grayson, 44–60. Oxford, 1980. Reprint, in The Prophetic Sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999. ———. The Influence of Prophecy in the late Middle Ages. A study in Joachimism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. ———. Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future. London: SPCK, 1976. ———. The Prophetic sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999. ———. ‘The Third Age: Dante’s Debt to Gioacchino da Fiore.’ In L’Età dello Spirito e la Fine dei Tempi in Gioacchino da Fiore. Atti del 11o Congresso internazionale di studi gioachimiti, edited by A Landi, 127–39. San Giovanni in Fiore, 1986. Reprint, in The Prophetic Sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999. Reno, Christine M. ‘The Preface to the Avision-Christine.’ In Reinterpeting Christine de Pizan, edited by Earl Jeffrey Richards, 207–27. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1992. Richards, Earl Jeffrey. ‘Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson: An Intellectual Friendship.’ In Christine de Pizan 2000. Studies on Christine de Pizan in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by John Campbell and Nadia Margolis, 197–208. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. ———. ‘The Lady Wants to Talk: Christine de Pizan’s Epistre a Eustach Morel.’ In Eustache Deschamps, French Courtier Poet, His Work and his World, 109–22. New York: AMS Press, 1998. Rohr, Zita Eva. ‘The Practice of Political Motherhood in Late Medieval France: Yolande of Aragon, Bonne-Mère of France’. In The Image and Perception of Monarchy in Medieval and Early Modern France, edited by Sean McGlynn and Elena Woodcare, 23–47. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014. ———. Yolande of Aragon (1381–1442) Family and Power. The Reverse of the Tapestry, Houndsmills: Palgrave, 2016. Sackville-West, Vita. Saint Joan of Arc: Born, January 6, 1412, Burned as a Heretic, May 20, 1431, Canonized as a Saint, May 16, 1920. London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1936. Schieberle, Misty. ‘The Lytle Bibell of Knyghthod, Christine de Pizan’s Epistre Othea, and the Problem with Authorial Manuscripts.’ The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 118, no. 1 (2019): 100–28. Scrope, Poulett. History of the Manor and Ancient Barony of Castle Combe. London: J. B. Nichols and son, 1852. Sermoise, Pierre de. Joan of Arc and her Secret Missions. Translated by Jennifer Taylor. London: Robert Hale, 1973. Shaw, Bernard. Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue. London: Constable and Company, 1924. Smith, A. R. ‘Aspects of the Career of Sir John Fastolf.’ DPhil, Oxford, 1986. Sommé, Monique. ‘The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy as Benefactors of Colette de Corbie and the Colettine Poor Clares.’ In A Companion to Colette of Corbie, edited by Joan Mueller and Nancy Warren Bradley, 32–55. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

Green_9781793613165.indb 230

15-04-2021 13:11:47

Bibliography

231

———. Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne. Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1998. Stein, Henri. ‘La Bibliothèque du Connétable d’Albret à Sully-sur-Loire (1409).’ Le Bibliographe Moderne 6 (1902): 91–3. Sullivan, Karen. ‘“I do not name to you the voice of St. Michael”: the identification of Joan of Arc’s voices.’ In Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 85–111. New York: Garland, 1996. ———. The Interrogation of Joan of Arc. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999. Summit, Jennifer. Lost Property: the woman writer and English literary history, 1380–1589. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000. Taylor, Craig. ‘The Salic Law and the Valois Succession to the French Crown.’ French History 15 (2001): 358–77. Taylor, Larissa Juliet, ‘Joan of Arc, the church, and the papacy’, The Catholic Historical Review 98, no. 2 (2012), 217–40. Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror. London: Papermac, 1995. Vale, Malcolm Graham Alan. Charles VII. London: Eyre Methuen, 1974. Van Kerrebrouk, Patrick. La Maison de Bourbon: 1256–1987. Villeneuve d’Ascq: n.p, 1987. Vauchez, André. ‘Jeanne d’Arc et le Prophétisme Féminin des XIVe et XVe siècles.’ Paper presented at Jeanne d’Arc une epoque une rayonnement. Colloque d’histoire médiévale, Orléans 1979. Van Hemelryck, Tania. ‘Christine de Pizan–a Manuscript’s Progress … Perspectives Sur Un “Nouveau” Témoin du Livre de Paix de Christine de Pizan.’ In Sens, Rhétorique Et Musique. Études Réunies en hommage à Jacqueline CerquigliniToulet, edited by Sophie Albert, Mireille Demaules, Estelle Doudet, Sylvie Lefèvre, Christopher Lucken and Agathe Sultan, 391–403. Paris: Champion, 2015. Vaughan, Richard. Philip the Good. London and Harlow: Longmans, Green and Co., 1970. Viennot, Élaine. La France, les femmes et le pouvoir. L’invention de la loi salique. Paris: Perrin, 2006. Viollet, Paul. ‘Comment les femmes ont été exclues en France, de la succession à la couronne.’ Memoires de l’Institut de France, Académie des Inscriptions et BellesLettres 34 (1893): 125–78. Viriville, Auguste Vallet de. Histoire de Charles VII roi de France et de son epoque 1403–1461. 3 vols. Paris: J Renouard, 1862. Warner, Marina. Joan of Arc. London: Vintage, 1991. Wayman, Dorothy. ‘The Chancellor and Joan of Arc’, Franciscan Studies 17 (1957): 273–305. Whitehead, Christiania. ‘Making a cloister of the soul in medieval religious treatises.’ Medium Aevum 67 (1998): 1–29. Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pisan: Her Life and Works. New York: Persea, 1984.

Green_9781793613165.indb 231

15-04-2021 13:11:48

232

Bibliography

———. ‘Christine de Pizan: the Astrologer’s Daughter.’ In Mélanges à la mémoire de Franco Simone. France et Italie dans la culture européenne, 95–111. Geneva: Éditions Slatkine, 1980. ———. ‘The Dominican Abbey of Poissy in 1400.’ In Christine de Pizan 2000. Studies on Christine de Pizan in Honour of Angus J. Kennedy, edited by John Campbell and Nadia Margolis, 209–20. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. ———. ‘The Manuscript Tradition of the Livre des Trois Vertus and Christine de Pisan’s Audience.’ Journal of the History of Ideas 27 (1966): 433–44. ———. ‘The Patronage of Isabel of Portugal.’ In The Cultural Patronage of Medieval Women, edited by June Hall McCash, 306–20. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996. ———. ‘A Portuguese translation of Christine de Pizan’s Livre des Trois Vertus.’ PMLA 78 (1963): 459–64. ———. ‘An Unknown Manuscript of Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Paix.’ Studi Francesi 64 (1978): 90–7. Wood, Charles T. ‘Joan of Arc’s Mission and the Lost Record of Her Interrogation at Poitiers.’ In Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 57–75. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. ———. Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints and Government in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Yates, Frances. Astraea. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975.

Green_9781793613165.indb 232

15-04-2021 13:11:48

Index

Abbey of Mureau, 10, 139, 209, 213–15 Advis à Isabeau de Bavière, 203–9, 204, 214 Agincourt, battle of, 19, 24, 27, 30, 59, 165, 199 Aix, Claude d’, 176 Albret, Charles I d’, 147, 156, 164–65, 167 Albret, Charles II d’, 156, 165, 172, 176, 184 Alençon, Catharine of, 189 Alençon, Jeanne of, 27 Alençon, John duke of, 24, 27, 30, 53, 56–57, 123, 184, 189, 200 Alighieri, Dante, 113, 117, 133; De Monarchia, 117; Paradiso, 117; Purgatorio, 117–18 Allée, Pierre, 184 Amazons, 2, 8, 29, 41–42, 79, 85, 122–23, 189 Ancient History up to Caesar (L’histoire ancienne jusqu’à César), 42 Anjou, Charles of, 151 Anjou, Louis II of, 10, 82, 94, 96, 101–2, 181 Anjou, Louis III of, 86, 97 Anjou, Margaret of, Queen of England, 59 Anjou, Marie of, Queen of France, 25, 85–86, 100–102

Anjou, René of, 71, 189 Antichrist, 16, 114, 133, 141, 154, 180 Aragon, Yolande of, Queen of Sicily and duchess of Anjou, 9, 25, 66, 86, 94, 97, 100–102, 166, 204–5 Armagnac, Anne of, 155, 165, 176 Armagnac, Bernard VII, duke of, 18–19, 58, 65–66, 167 Armagnac, Bernard VIII, duke of, 155, 176 Armagnac, Bonne of, duchess of Orleans, 155, 165, 176, 178 Armagnac, Jean of, 154 Armagnac, Thibault d’, 57 Arras, Fraquet d’, 184 Arras, Treaty of, 44–45, 65, 68–72, 74–75, 85–86, 141, 148, 175, 191, 200, 208–9 Artois, Bonne of, duchess of Burgundy, 66, 72, 181 Augustine, Saint, 83, 103–4 Auneau, Marguerite d’, 102 Autrand, Françoise, 204 Ayroles, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph, 58, 139 Ballade du Sacre de Reims, 140 Baudricourt, Robert de, 1, 101, 137, 152–53, 200 Bauffremont, Pierre de, 70

233

Green_9781793613165.indb 233

15-04-2021 13:11:48

234

Index

Bavaria, Isabeau of, Queen of France, 4, 13, 15, 18–19, 28, 32, 41, 43, 58, 67, 75, 77, 93, 135, 148, 167, 177, 203–9, 214 Bavaria, Louis of, 147 Bavaria, Marguerite of, duchess of Burgundy, 177, 180–81 Beauchamp, Richard, earl of Warwick, 202–3 Beaufort, Henry, bishop of Winchester, 75, 202–3 Beaupère, Jean, 54–56 Beauvoir, Simone de, 5 Bede, 8, 98, 111–15, 133–34, 138– 39, 141; De Temporibus, 138; Sibyllinorum verborum interpreatio, 133 Bedford, John, duke of, 72, 75, 99, 169, 197, 200, 202 Berry, Bonne of, duchess of Savoy, then of Armagnac, 65, 167, 179 Berry, John of, 41, 81, 176–77, 214 Berry, Mary of, duchess of Bourbon, 28–29, 32, 41, 43, 65–66, 70–71, 80, 147, 167, 176–77, 180–81, 190 Blanc, Jean le, 207 Blois-Penthièvre, Marie of, Queen of Sicily and duchess of Anjou, 94 Blondel, Robert, 119 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 78, 109 Book of the Feats of the Good Jean le Meingre called Boucicaut (Le Livre des fais du bon messier Jehan le Meingre, dit Bouciquaut), 163–64, 182 Bosredon, Louis of, 58 Boucicault Hours, 135 Bourbon, Bonne of, countess of Savoy, 32, 167 Bourbon, Catherine of, countess of Harcourt, 33, 167 Bourbon, Charles, count of Clermont, then duke of, 24, 26, 29–30, 40, 55, 180–82, 185 Bourbon, Isabelle of, 40

Green_9781793613165.indb 234

Bourbon, Jean I of, 147, 155, 181 Bourbon, Jean II of, 185 Bourbon, Jeanne of, Queen of France, 32, 93, 98, 167 Bourbon, Louis II of, 147, 164–65, 167, 169, 177, 180 Bourbon, Marguerite of, 167 Bourbon, Marie of, prioress at Poissy, 32, 167 Bourbon, Suzanne of, 71 Bourbon-La Marche. See La Marche Boucicault, Jean II le Meingre, 33, 156, 162–67, 178, 185 Boulainvilliers, Perceval de, 137, 215 Bouligny, Regnier de, 57, 101 Bouvet, Honoré, 198; Tree of Battles (Arbre de batailles), 198–99 Bouzy, Olivier, 123 Brittany, Isabelle of, 97 Brittany, John V, duke of, 65–66, 86, 205 Brosse, Jean de, lord of Boussac, 96 Brother Richard, 57, 180 Brother Thomas, 83 Brueil, Jean V, lord of, 97 Burgundy, Agnes of, duchess of Clermont, then of Bourbon, 26, 29, 71, 182, 185 Burgundy, Anne of, duchess of Bedford, 72, 75 Burgundy, Bonne of, lady of Montfort, 75 Burgundy, Catherine of, 101 Burgundy, Charles (the Bold) duke of, 85–86, 125, 169 Burgundy, John (the Fearless) duke of, 18–19, 58, 71, 75, 81–82, 96, 100–101, 124, 162, 177, 197, 200, 205, 207–8 Burgundy, Marguerite of, duchess of Guyenne, then of Richmond, 65, 71, 82 Burgundy, Mary of, duchess of Savoy, 65, 75 Burgundy, Philip (the Bold) duke of, 14, 17–18, 147, 197

15-04-2021 13:11:48

Index

Burgundy, Philip (the Good) duke of, 19, 25, 38–39, 43–48, 65–66, 68–72, 75, 80, 85, 101, 148–49, 181, 183– 85, 200, 205–8 Cabochien uprising, 100, 208 Calais, John of, 184 Cambrai, Adam of, 72, 97n17 Castel, Etienne, 13 Castel, Jean, 6, 27, 84, 99, 141, 148, 196, 201 Cauchon, Pierre, bishop of Beauvais, 64, 198, 203 Champier, Symphorien, 71; The Ship of Ladies (La nef des dames), 70–71 Champion, Pierre, 149 Charlemagne, King of France, 151, 162 Charlemagne Prophecy, 9, 25, 43, 57, 112, 115, 118, 133–34, 138–41, 147, 163, 166, 183, 189, 215–16 Charles V, King of France, 13, 16–18, 97, 115–16, 167 Charles VI, King of France, 13–15, 18–19, 25, 32, 58, 115, 134–35 Charles VII, dauphin, then King of France, 6, 8–9, 14, 18–19, 27, 43–44, 51, 53, 57–58, 65–66, 68–73, 78, 81–82, 97, 99–102, 112, 118, 126, 131–34, 139–40, 146–49, 152, 154, 183–84, 189, 196, 200–201, 204–9; coronation of, 24–25, 31, 37–39; Joan and, 47, 53, 57, 96, 166 Charles VIII, King of France, 134, 136 Chartier, Alain, 2, 6, 9, 75, 82, 84–85, 100, 102, 105, 122n44, 124–25, 136– 37, 141, 147–49, 153, 156, 182, 188, 214; Breviaire des nobles, 148; La belle dame sans merci, 147; Lay de Paix, 148; Treatise on Hope (Hope or the Consolation of the Three Virtues), 9, 149–52, 150n22 Chartier, Guillaume, 105 Chartier, Jean, 162 Chartres, Regnault of, archbishop of Reims, 51, 55, 65, 76, 140–41, 185

Green_9781793613165.indb 235

235

Chastel, Tanguy de, 84n98, 196 Châteaumorand, Jean of, 33, 163–64, 167, 181–82, 214 Châtillon, Jeanne de, 93 Chaume, Maurice, 133–34, 139 Chourses, Antoine de, 189 Christine de Pizan. See Pizan, Christine de Cleves, Adolphe of, 72 Cleves, Mary of, 76 Coëtivy, Catherine de, 189–90 Coëtivy, Oliver de, 189 Coëtivy, Pregunt de, 189 Col, Gontier and Pierre (brothers), 93 Contamine, Philippe, 102, 149, 204, 206 Corbie, Collette of, 9, 33, 105, 155–56, 163, 175–83 Cornwall, John, 155, 155n39 Coton, Jeanne, wife of Jean Castel, 201–3, 207 Council of Basel, 65, 68, 78, 175 Courcelles, Thomas de, 64–65, 68 Cousinot, Guillaume, 100 Coutes, Jehan de, 208 Coutes, Louis de, 40, 207–8 Craon, Jean de, 86 Craon, Marie de, 94 Craon, Pierre de, 93–94 Crémone, Cosme-Raymond of, 116 Créquy, Jean de, 68, 79–83 Crèvecœur, Jacques de, 70, 83 Cyprus, Janus of, 86 Deborah (Biblical), 8, 28, 79, 110, 119, 122–23, 126, 138, 151 De Mirabili Victoria, 122, 129n44, 135, 137 De Quadam Puella, 122, 129n44, 135, 151 Descgaux, Robert, 83 Deschamps, Eustache, 97, 114, 118–19, 133, 135 Domremy, 10, 65, 95, 97, 101–2, 112, 139, 152–53, 166, 177–79, 182–83,

15-04-2021 13:11:48

236

Index

186, 188–89, 209, 213–14; basilica at, 1, 213 Don Pedro, King of Castille, 98–99, 151 Dunois, Jean, bastard of Orleans, 76, 100 Dupuy, Jean, 101 Esther (Biblical), 8, 79, 93, 119, 122, 126, 138 Fastolf, John, 195–202 Felix V. See Savoy, Amadeus VIII Fiore, Joachim of, 113–14, 133, 168, 178–79; De oneribus phrophetarum, 113; Exposito abbatis Joachim super Jheremiam, 113; Exposito Abbatus Joachim super Sibillis et merlino, 114; Vaticinia Sibbille Erithree prophetisse, 114 Flavy, Guillaume de, 185 Fontaines, Renault de, 69 Forli, Guy de, 116 Fraioli, Deborah, 3, 40, 45, 70n27, 119, 122, 124, 137–38, 189 France, Anne of, 71 France, Jeanne of, duchess of Brittany, 205 France, Marie of, nun at Poissy, 32, 201 France, Michelle of, duchess of Burgundy, 71, 181 France, Yolande of, duchess of Savoy, 168 Gamaches, Gilles de, 69 Gamaches, Louis de, 69 Gaucourt, Jeanne de, 156n43 Gaucourt, Raoul de, 51, 147, 156, 162, 164–65, 208 Gaunt, John of, 74 Gave, Matheline de la, 100 Gelu, Jacques, 81, 99, 120, 122–23, 152 Geneva, Blanche of, countess of Chalon, 175 Gerson, Jean, 6, 85, 119, 129n44, 124, 137, 156, 189, 197

Green_9781793613165.indb 236

Giac, Pierre, 58 Gilles de Rais. See Rais, Gilles of Girard, Jean, 122–23 Gouges, Martin, 97 Grandeau, Yann, 102, 176 Granval, Artaud de, 149, 156 Graville, Jean Malet de, 190 Graville, Louis Malet de, 190 Guesclin, Bertrand de, 13, 18, 31, 94– 99, 151, 163, 165, 178, 206 Guillaume, Jaquet, 184–85 Guyenne, Louis of, dauphin of France, 17–19, 65, 69, 80–82, 111, 120, 122, 167, 205–6 Harcourt, Catherine of, 33, 64, 72, 201 Harcourt, Christopher, bishop of Liège, 72, Harcourt, Jean VI, count of, 33, 64, 167 Harville, Marguerite d’, 40 Hennequin, Susanne de, 196 Henry IV, King of England, 70 Henry V, King of England, 59 Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, 113 Henry VI, King of England, 59, 72, 140, 202–3, 209 Henry of Castille, 98–99, 163 Hermite, Pierre l’, 122–23, 166 Hussites, 9, 140–41, 153–54, 162 Jeremiah, prophet, 113, 136, 154, 183 Joan of Arc: capture, 2, 51, 72, 80, 96, 136, 185; death, 2, 64–65, 83, 140, 200–201, 203; father, 51, 183; knighthood, 51; Letter to ClermontFerrand, 176, 184; Letter to Riom, 176, 184; Letter to the duke of Burgundy, 44–48, 45, 72, 81, 184, 188; Letter to the English, 140, 147, 162; Letter to the Hussites, 140, 153, 162; Letter to the people of Reims, 184; mother, Isabelle de Vouthon, called ‘Rommée’, 51, 136, 153; Poitiers examination. See, Poitiers, Council of; rehabilitation, 7, 53–54,

15-04-2021 13:11:48

Index

56, 58–59, 65, 76, 105, 112, 120, 123, 136, 177, 180; trial, 48, 51–60, 64–65, 105, 124–25, 134, 137–38, 166, 183, 198, 200, 203, 209, 213– 15; voices, 1, 8, 53–56, 60, 82, 103– 5, 111–12, 121, 124–25, 137–38, 140, 153, 161–63, 180, 213–16 Judith (Biblical), 8, 28–29, 52, 79–80, 93, 110, 119, 122–23, 126, 138 La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin, 98–99 Ladvenu, Martin, 54 Laidlaw, James, 25, 150 La Marche, Anne of, duchess of Montpensier, then Queen of Bavaria, 29n24, 32, 169 La Marche, Charlotte of, Queen of Cyprus, 86 La Marche, Isabelle, 175, 177 La Marche, Jacques II of, 9, 31, 33, 86, 92, 96, 105, 147, 155–56, 162–63, 168–69, 176–79, 181–83 La Marche, Jean I of, 92, 95 Lancaster, Philippa of, 74 Laval, André, lord of Lohéac, 24, 31, 94–95 Laval, Guy XII, 31 Laval, Guy XIII, 31 Laval, Guy XIV, 24, 31, 94–95 Laval, Guy XV, 189 Laval, Hélène, 189 Laval, Jeanne, 95, 99 Laval, Jeanne-Anne, 8, 31, 94–95, 97–99, 178 Lebuin, Michel, 136 Le Franc, Martin, 2, 43, 64–65, 68, 119, 129n44, 135, 155, 167–69, 207; The Ladies’ Champion (Le Champion des dames), 7–9, 63–73, 67, 73, 76–80, 83–87, 101–2, 120, 141, 148–50, 153–54, 175–79, 185, 188 Le Meingre, Jean II, 9, 33, 104, 147, 156, 162–65

Green_9781793613165.indb 237

237

Lorraine, Anthoine of, 71 Lorraine, Charles of, 101, 177 Lorraine, Marguerite of, 177 Louis XI, King of France, 149 Louvet, Jean, 100, 205, 208 Luce, Siméon, 9, 33, 176, 178, 180–81 Luxembourg, Jaquette of, duchess of Bedford, 75, 75n47, 200 Luxembourg, John of, 52, 69, 72, 198 Luxembourg, Louis of, 75n47 Luxembourg, Pierre of, 75 Machet, Gérard, 72n31, 120, 123, 182 Maçon, Robert le, lord of Trèves, 57– 58, 94, 156n43, 208 Maillé, Jeanne-Marie, 104 Mailly, Jean de, bishop of Noyon, 68, 203 Malestroit, Jean III de, 189 Mareshalk, Isabeau la, 208 Martel, Charles, 162 Martin V, Pope, 65 Merlin, 8, 16, 54, 85, 98–99, 111–16, 118–19, 123–24, 139, 141, 151, 154, 168, 182 Mesnil, Jeanne du, 100 Metz, Jean de, 120, 152 Meun, Jean de, 67, 148, 173; Romance of the Rose (Roman de la Rose), 67, 148 Migli, Ambrogio, 114 Monk of Saint-Denis. See Pintoin, Michael Monmouth, Geoffrey, 113–14; History of the Kings of England (Historia Regnum Britanniae), 113–14 Montfort, Jean de, 31 Montpensier, Louis of, son of John of Berry, 29 Montpensier, Louis of, son of Mary of Berry, 29, 43, 80, 176, 184, 190 Montreuil, Jean, 67, 93, 197 Mortemer, Jeanne de, lady of Trèves, 156n43

15-04-2021 13:11:48

238

Index

Naples, Jeanne II, Queen of, 181 Navarre, Beatrice of, 177, 181 Navarre, Charles (the Good) of, 168, 177 Navarre, Louis of, 147 Nesson, Jamette, 84n98 Nesson, Pierre de, 84, 149; Lay de guerre, 149 Nevers, Philip of, 72, 181 Nicopolis, battle of, 9, 32–33, 156, 162, 164 Nouillonpont, Jean de. See Metz, Jean de Noviant, Catherine of, 208 Noviant, Charles, lord of, 208 Offremont, Louis de, 69 Order of the Garter, 198 Order of the Gold Shield, 165, 167 Order of the Green Shield with the White Lady, 9, 147, 164 Order of the Rose, 25 Orleans, Charles of, 19, 24–25, 27, 55, 60, 66, 76, 97, 100, 113, 119, 154– 56, 165, 176, 180. 190–91, 197, 208 Orleans, Jeanne of, duchess of Alençon, 27 Orleans, Louis of, 4, 13–15, 18, 25–27, 32, 97, 100–101, 114, 117, 120, 135, 165, 177, 181, 185, 197, 206 Orliac, Jehanne d’, 100–102 Ouy, Gilbert, 114 Pasquerel, Jean, 53, 59, 136, 140, 166, 180, 183 Paule (Pau), Éléonore de, 101 Pedriel, Jean, 184 Penthesilea, 41–42, 70–71, 79, 122–23, 126, 150, 153, 191, 198, 201 Pernoud, Régine, 1, 102 Philip V, King of France, 77 Pinet, Marie-Josèphe, 196, 202 Pintoin, Michael, 96 Pisano, Thomas, father of Christine de Pizan, 13–14, 115–16

Green_9781793613165.indb 238

Pius II, Pope, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, 56, 189 Pizan, Christine de, 1–48, 67–70, 73–75; The Book of Peace (Le Livre de paix), 3, 16–17, 19, 28, 65, 69, 81–83, 111, 120, 122, 167, 197, 203–6; The Book of the Body Politic (Le Livre du corps de policie), 16, 27, 65, 190; The Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la cité des dames), 2, 6, 8, 14–15, 29–31, 30, 41–3, 53, 67–68, 78–79, 85, 103–4, 125–26, 149, 168, 175, 188–89; The Book of the Deeds of Arms and Chivalry (Le Livre des fais d’armes et de chevalerie), 59; The Book of the Mutability of Fortune (La Livre de la mutacion de Fortune), 15, 17, 84, 190, 197; The Book of the Three Virtues (Le Livre des Trois Vertus), 28, 42–43, 65, 73, 83, 165, 181, 188; Christine’s Vision (L’Advision Cristine), 16, 28, 114–17, 133, 149, 165, 168–69, 175, 188; The Deeds and Morals of the Good King Charles V (Le Livre des faits et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V), 15–18, 31, 97; Duke of True Lovers (Le Livre du duc des vrais amants), 43; Epistle of the Prison of Human Life (Epistre de la prison de vie humaine) 28, 79, 176, 188; Heures de contemplacion sur la Passion de Nostre Seigneur Jhesucrist, 214; Letter from the God of Love (Epistre de Dieu d’Amours), 41, 69, 147; The Letter of Othea to Hector (Epistre Othea), 15, 26, 26– 27, 29, 41–43, 69–70, 74, 117–18, 135, 165, 167–68, 185–89, 187, 191, 197–99; Letters on the Romance of the Rose, 27, 66–67, 93–94; Letter to the Queen of France (L’epistre à la reine), 43; The Long Path of Learning (Le Chemin de longue

15-04-2021 13:11:49

Index

étude), 15–17, 27, 43, 84, 117, 133, 139, 164–65, 188; Seven Allegorized Psalms (Les .vii. psaumes en fraçoyes allegorisees) 168, 177, 188; Tale of Poissy (Dit de Poissy), 32–33, 72, 156, 164, 196 Plessis, Nicolas du, 115 Poissy, 10, 39–40, 45, 188, 199, 201–2; Dominican Abbey of Saint Louis at, 31–33, 40, 64, 72, 98, 164, 195–97 Poitiers, 180; Council of, 8, 53, 112, 121, 123–25, 138, 141, 152, 179, 183; parliament of, 72, 120 Poitiers, Jean de, 165 Portugal, Isabella of, duchess of Burgundy, 68, 70, 72–76, 79, 85, 175, 178 Poulengy, Bertrand, 120, 177 prophetic tradition, 9, 115, 118, 123, 133–36, 138, 151–54, 180, 188 Raguier, Hémon, 58, 148, 207–8 Rais, Gilles of, 24, 30, 83, 86, 94, 99, 189 Rais, Marie of, 189 Richard II, King of England, 13, 27, 147 Richmond, Arthur of, 65, 82, 86, 97, 205–7 Rivière, Bureau de la, 102 Roche-Guyon, Perrette de, 102 Rochelle, Catherine de la, 55, 180 Rohr, Zita, 100 Sabadino, Giovanni, 58 Saint Catherine, 1, 6–7, 9, 28, 53–54, 103–4, 111, 122, 125, 137, 156, 161– 67, 178–80, 182, 185–87, 186 Saint Margaret, 1, 6–7, 28, 53–54, 103– 4, 111, 137, 179–80 Saint Michael, 1, 6–7, 53, 55, 179, 182 Saintrailles, Poton de, 69 Salic law, 77 Savoy, Amadeus VI of, 167

Green_9781793613165.indb 239

239

Savoy, Amadeus VIII of, 32, 65, 82, 97, 155, 167, 175, 181, 205; becomes Felix V, 65 Savoy, Amadeus IX of, 85, 168 Savoy, Bonne of, 168, 175 Savoy, Charlotte of, Queen of France, 136 Savoy, Humbert, bastard of, lord of Estavayer, 32–33, 156 Savoy, Marguerite of, duchess of Anjou, 86 Savoy-Archa, Loyse of, 175 Scotland, Margaret of, 86, 149, 153 Scrope, Stephen, 198–200, 203 Shakespeare, William, 118 sibyl(s), 8, 16, 17, 28, 43, 84–85, 87, 98, 111–18, 122–26, 135, 138, 154, 156, 168 Sibylla Francica, 84, 133, 138, 213 Sigismund, King of Hungary, 32, 149, 153 Sorel, Agnes, 189 Speyer, clerk of, 83–85, 138–39, 215 Stafford, Humphrey, 198–99 Suffolk, William de la Pole, duke of, 201 Talbot, John, 40, 59, 198 Thomassin, Mathieu, 118–20; Registre Delphinal, 118–19 Tignonville, Guillaume de, 67, 81n76 Treaty of Troyes, 18–19, 154, 209 Trémouïlle, Georges de la, 55, 58, 94, 149, 184n36 Trémouïlle, Jacqueline de la, 70n24 Très Riches Heures du duc de Berri, 135 Trojan War, 15, 41–42, 60, 69, 71 Tour, Catharine de la, nun at Poissy, 196 Tour, Gabrielle de la, 34, 80 Tour, Louise de la, 80 Touroulde, Marguerite la, 57, 101 Tuvata, Filento, 58

15-04-2021 13:11:49

240

Valet de Viriville, Auguste, 203 Valois, Marguerite de, 189 Vendôme, Catherine of, countess of La Marche and Castres, 95–96 Vendôme, Jeanne of, 189 Vendôme, Louis of, 8, 24, 29–33, 51–52, 66, 68, 76, 86–87, 95–97, 99–100, 102, 104–5, 141, 147, 163, 166, 169, 185, 205 Versailles, Pierre, 120, 123 Vignolles, Etienne de, La Hire, 78, 97 Virgin Mary, 8, 42, 86, 120–23, 135, 152, 167, 173–75, 186; feast of the Nativity of, 183; jubilee of, 9, 136– 37, 141, 183

Green_9781793613165.indb 240

Index

Visconti, Valentina, 13, 25, 27, 30, 67, 100, 135 Warner, George, 199 Warner, Marina, 1, 163 Wavrin, Jean de, 200 Willard, Charity Cannon, 80, 197 Wisemelle, Agnes, 175 Woodville, Anthony, 200 Woodville, Elizabeth, 75n47 Woodville, Richard, 75n47 Worcester, William, 195–99 Wynchelsey, Thomas, 155–56

15-04-2021 13:11:49

About the Author

Karen Green is a professorial fellow (honorary) in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is a philosopher by training, who has published widely on women’s intellectual history. With Constant Mews and Janice Pinder, she translated Christine de Pizan’s Livre de Paix (Penn State, 2008) and was coeditor with Mews of Healing the Body Politic: The Political Thought of Christine de Pizan (Brepols, 2005). She is particularly interested in the neglected influence of women’s ideas on past political developments. Along with many articles and edited collections, she has published A History of Women’s Political Thought in Europe, 1400–1700 (Cambridge, 2009), coauthored with Jacqueline Broad, followed by the sole authored, A History of Women’s Political Thought in Europe, 1700–1800 (Cambridge, 2014). Her most recent book is Catharine Macaulay’s Republican Enlightenment (Routledge, 2020).

241

Green_9781793613165.indb 241

15-04-2021 13:11:49

Green_9781793613165.indb 242

15-04-2021 13:11:49