Life at the Seminary

Joan at Chinon
When Joan arrived at Chinon, where Dauphin Charles VII was residing, she had the difficult task of convincing him that she was really sent by God to liberate France. Through a chamberlain of Charles, we know that Joan repeated to him the three things that he had asked God in prayer on All Saints’ Day. Convinced of her honesty, Charles sent Joan to Poitiers, where an ecclesiastical court gathered to look into the matter.

The examination at Poitiers
Sadly, we do not have the records of the proceedings in Poitiers, which took weeks to complete. We do, however, have references by Joan in her trial about this previous ecclesiastical investigation, as well as testimonies under oath of some of the priest that were there. We can appreciate Joan’s humor, when sitting across her judges in Poitiers, she was asked what language her heavenly voices spoke. Joan answered: “A better one than yours.” The priest in question immediately adds in his testimony that Joan was right, because he himself spoke with an accent.

It seems that this investigation was thorough, encompassing Joan’s life and childhood, devotions and a test of her virginity, conducted by the wife of Charles VII and several other ladies. Later on, during her trial in Rouen, she was again tested, this time by the Duchess of Bedford and several attendants. In both cases, she was found to be a virgin. Especially in her days, her virginity was a basic necessity to even consider her claims were true.

We should keep in mind that this court in Poitiers was headed by Regnault de Chartres, the Archbishop of Reims and, thus, chancellor of France. This means that the court was higher in rank than the one that condemned here in Rouen on largely the same issues. We will discuss the depravity of her trial in Rouen on another page. What is important, is that this court decided that to not believe in Joan’s vocation, would make one unworthy of any further assistance of the Holy Spirit.

The liberation of Orléans
To cut to the chase, this meant that Joan was free to become the commander of what was left of the French army. If you realize how terrible the situation for France was, you would appreciate the magnitude of God’s work through St. Joan. Imagine how the French suffered loss upon loss for over a century, with no battles won. The treasury was empty, the moral low. The enemy was before the gates of Orléans, and it can safely be assumed that with Orléans gone, the entire line of defense would have collapsed. The Dauphin Charles was already planning his escape to Spain or Scotland. Joan had specific orders from her voices to begin the liberation of France in Orléans.

It seems a bit like a fairy tale, but we have many historical counts of Joan’s victory over the English. What is most impressive, to me, is that she always had God first in mind. Even talking to her king, or to an ecclesiastical court comprised out of the most eminent of bishops, abbots and priests, or in councils of war: she knew what God had asked her to do, and no one could persuade her to take a different course. Without any military experience, this young peasant girl managed to lift the siege of Orléans. She won the first set of victories for the French army and managed to conquer several English forts and gave them a run for their money!

[View with PicLens]

Continue to page 4: the Coronation at Reims >>