Joan of Arc Declared Innocent - News

Thank you, my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on July 7, 1456 a retrial verdict acquitted Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her execution.
Sadly it was much too late to save the heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War. Joan of Arc who "was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint."

Joan of Arc Documentary - Biography of the life of Joan of Arc The Maid of Orleans
Biographical documentary on Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orleans. A documentary on the life of the Joan of Arc, from her rise during the Siege of Orleans to her capture, trial and execution for heresy by the English at Rouen during the Hundred Years War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG5xkeeQmSg

Images:
1. Map Joan of Arc Chronology 1429-1431
2. Jeanne d'Arc devant Orleans April 14, 1429 postcard
3. Jeanne d'Arc a Compiegne, Jehanne est prise [Captured] May 24, 1430 postcard
4. Jeanne d'Arc Brulee Vive a Rouen [burned at the stake] May 30, 1431 postcard

Biographies
1. Chronology from jeanne-darc.info/biography/chronology
2. Extensive background from jeanne-darc.info/biography

1. Background from {[https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/chronology/]}
The Chronology of Jeanne d’Arc
“Although it must be admitted that it is impossible to work out the itinerary of Jeanne d’Arc with any degree of exactness, either of place or date, it is nevertheless possible to give an approximate idea of where she went and when. But it must be remembered that I make no claim for its absolute accuracy; the most I can say is that it is a suggested itinerary, based upon such facts as are at the historian’s disposal. I do not here give references in support of my statements; such will be found throughout the text in and the notes.” (W.S.Scott)

1412
January Born at Domremy to Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romée. Cf. Letter of Perceval de Boulainvilliers to the duke of Milan (June 29, 1429). But no one else, neither Jeanne’s mother nor the witnesses at the rehabilitation trial, mentions the feast of the Epiphany (a Christian religious holiday celebrating the baptism of Jesus and the arrival of the Three Wise Men). In the course of the trial of condemnation, Jeanne “answered that she was nineteen or thereabout.”

Sometime during that January?: Jeanne’s baptism in the church of Domremy, by the parish priest, Jean Nivet. Numerous witnesses attested to it, including some godfathers and godmothers, as well as Jeanne herself (condemnation trial).

1424
Domremy, in Jacques d’Arc’s garden. “She was thirteen years old; she heard a voice coming from God to help her control herself. And the first time she felt a great fear. And that voice came about midday, in the summer, in her father’s garden”.

1425
Domremy. Henri d’Orly steals cattle belonging to the inhabitants of the village. The lady of Domremy, Jeanne de Joinville, makes him return them.

May
Burey-le-Petit. Jeanne stays with Durand Laxart.
May 13: Vaucouleurs.
First meeting with Robert de Baudricourt, around Ascension Thursday.

July ?: Neufchateau: The inhabitants of Domremy leave their village for fear of armed bands of soldiers. Jeanne and her family are housed with a woman named La Rousse for a fortnight.
Toul. Jeanne is denounced before the authorities for breaking a promise of marriage, which she denies.

1428 June: Last week To Neufchateau

1429 January
Burey-le-Petit. Second stay with Durand Laxart.
Vaucouleurs. Second meeting with Robert de Baudricourt.

February
Nancy. Meeting with Duke Charles of Lorraine. Return to Vaucouleurs by way of Saint-Nicolas-du-Port.
Vaucouleurs. With the Le Royer couple. Saturday, February 12, 1429: “Day of the Herrings.” Jeanne announces it during her third meeting with Robert de Baudricourt. Exorcism by the parish priest of Vaucouleurs, Fournier. Her escort is gotten ready.
Tuesday, February 22: Departure from Vaucouleurs. Late afternoon. The distance to Saint-Urbain is covered at night. Jeanne is accompanied by Jean of Metz and his servant, Jean de Honnecourt; Bertrand de Poulengy and his servant, Julien; Colet de Vienne, the royal courier; and Richard the archer. “Eleven days to reach the king” (rehabilitation trial, Deposition of Bertrand de Poulengy). This date seems more·likely for the departure than for their arrival at Chinon.
Wednesday, February 23: Saint-Urbain-Clairvaux.
Thursday, February 24: Clairvaux-Pothieres.
Friday, February 25: Pothieres-Auxerre.
Saturday, February 26: Auxerre-Mezilles. In Auxerre, Jeanne attends mass in the “great church” (Tisset II, p. 52).
Sunday, February 27: Mezilles-Viglain.
Monday, February 28: Viglain-La Ferte.

March
Tuesday, March 1: La Ferte-Saint-Aignan.
Wednesday, March 2: Saint-Aignan-Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois.
Thursday, March 3: Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois-L’Ile-Bouchard. From Sainte-Catherine, Jeanne has a letter written to the king, asking him to receive her (Tisset II, p. 52).
Friday, March 4: l’ile Bouchard, Chinon. Jeanne arrives at Chinon about midday. She takes up lodging in a hostelry.
Saturday, March 5: Chinon.
Sunday, March 6: Chinon. In late afternoon, Jeanne is received by the king.
Monday, March 7: Chinon. First meeting with John of Alençon.
Tuesday, March 8: Chinon.
Thursday, March 10: Chinon. Interrogation session.
Friday, March 11: Poitiers. The interrogations held at the residence of Master Jean Rabateau, where Jeanne is lodged.
Tuesday, March 22: Poitiers. Jeanne sends an ultimatum to the king of England (the “Letter to the English”).
Thursday, March 24: Departure for Chinon.

April
Saturday, April 2: A horseman is sent to find the sword of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois.
Tuesday, April 5: Jeanne leaves Chinon for Tours. Her armor, her standard, and her pennon are produced.
Thursday, April 21: Departure from Tours for Blois. There Jeanne joins the royal army and the convoy of food for Orléans.
The banner for the priests to carry is produced. Departure for Orléans.
Friday, April 29: Jeanne reaches Chécy and enters Orléans in the evening by the Burgundy Gate; she takes up lodging with the treasurer of the duke, Jacques Boucher.
Saturday, April 30: Orléans. Jeanne “went to the rampart of Belle-Croix” on the bridge and speaks with “Glacidas” (Journal du siége d’Orléans).

May
Sunday, May 1: Orléans. Dunois leaves Orléans to find the rest of the royal army at Blois. (He will be away until May 4.)
Jeanne rides about in the city.
Monday, May 2: Orleans. Jeanne, on horseback, reconnoiters the English bastides.
Tuesday, May 3:Orleans. Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross. A procession in the city.
Wednesday, May 4: Orleans. Jeanne confronts Dunois. The Saint-Loup bastide is taken.
Thursday, May 5: Orléans. Ascension Day: no combat. Jeanne sends the English an ultimatum.
Friday, May 6: Orléans. Bastide of the Augustinians taken.
Saturday, May 7: Orleans. Bastide of the Tourelles taken.
Sunday, May 8: Orleans. The English raise the siege. Thanksgiving procession throughout the city.
Monday, May 9: Jeanne leaves Orléans.
Friday, May 13: Tours. Meeting between Jeanne and the king.
Between 13 and 24 May: Jeanne goes to Saint-Florent-les-Saumur. She meets John of Alençon, his wife, and his mother.
Sunday, May 22: The king is at Loches.
Tuesday, May 24: Jeanne leaves Loches.
Sunday, May 29: Selles-en-Berry.
Monday, June 6: Selles-en-Berry. Departure for Romorantin. Jeanne meets Guy de Laval at Selles-en-Berry.

June
Tuesday, June 7: Romorantin.
Thursday, June 9: Orléans. The army is regrouped.
Friday, June 10: Sandillon.
Saturday, June 11: Attack on Jargeau.
Sunday, June 12: Jargeau. Jargeau taken.
Monday, Jue 13: Return to Orléans.
Tuesday, June 14: Jeanne leaves the city.
Wednesday, June 15: Attack on Meung-sur-Loire.
Thursday, June 16: Attack on Beaugency.
Saturday, June 18: Battle of Patay. “The gentle king will have today the greatest victory he has ever had. And my counsel has told me that they will all be ours” (deposition of John of Alençon at the rehabilitation trial).
Sunday, June 19: Jeanne and the captains reenter Orleans.
Wednesday, June 22: Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. Meeting of the king’s council.
Thursday, June 23: The king returns to Gien.
Friday, June 24: The army leaves for Gien. Jeanne tells the duke of Alençon, “Have trumpets sounded and mount horse; it is time to go before the gentle Dauphin Charles and put him on the road to his coronation at Reims” (Perceval de Cagny).
Saturday, June 25: Gien. Jeanne dictates letters to the inhabitants of Tournai and the duke of Burgundy to invite them to the anointing.
Sunday, June 26: Gien.
The Coronation Route
Monday, June 27: Jeanne leaves Gien.
Wednesday, June 29: The royal army sets off toward Auxerre.

July
Monday, July 4: Briennon-Saint-Florentin-Saint-Phal. From Saint-Phal, Jeanne writes to the inhabitants of Troyes.
Tuesday, July 5: The army before Troyes.
Saturday, July 9: Troyes. The city of Troyes agrees to receive the king.
Sunday, July 10: Troyes. The king and Jeanne enter the city.
Tuesday, July 12: Troyes-Arcy-sur-Aube.
Wednesday, July 13: Arcy-sur-Aube-Lettrée.
Thursday, July 14: Lettrée-Châlons-sur-Mame. Jeanne encounters her fellow villagers from Dornremy.
Friday, July 15: Châlons-sur-Mame-Sept-Saulx.
Saturday, July 16: Sept-Saulx-Reims.
Sunday, July 17, 1429: Anointing of Charles VII in the cathedral of Reims.
Thursday, July 21: Departure from Reims for Corbeny. Charles VII touches for scrofula.
Saturday, July 23: Soissons.
Wednesday, July 27: Château-Thierry
Sunday, July 31: Letter of Charles VII granting immunity from taxation to the inhabitants of Domremy and Greux.

August
Monday, August 1: Montmirail.
Saturday, August 6: Provins. Letter of Jeanne to the inhabitants of Reims.
Sunday, August 7: Coulommiers.
Wednesday, August 10: La Ferté-Milon.
Thursday, August 11: Crépy-en-Valois.
Friday, August 12: Lagny.
Saturday, August 13: Dammartin.
Monday, August 15: Montépilloy. Heavy skirmishing with the English, who withdraw toward Paris.
Wednesday, August 17-Saturday, August 28: Compiégne (the royal residence).
Monday, August 23: Jeanne leaves Compiégne.
Thursday, August 26: Saint-Denis.

September
Monday, September 7: Saint-Denis. The king arrives in the town.
Tuesday, September 8: Attack on Paris, at the Saint-Honoré Gate.
Wednesday, September 9: Return to Saint-Denis.
Thursday, September 10: The order is given to abandon the attack on Paris.
Saturday, September 12: The army returns to the Loire.
Monday, September 14 – Monday, September 21: Provins-Courtenay-Châteaurenard-Montargis.
Monday, September 21: Gien. Dissolution of the army.
Late September: Preparation for the La Charite campaign.

October
?: Departure for Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier.

November
Wednesday, November 4: Fall of Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
Late November: The army marches toward La Charité. They follow the Allier and then the Loire (whether on the right or the left bank has not been settled). The army crosses the Loire between Nevers and Décize. It ascends the valley of the Nievre and then cuts sharply westward toward La Charite, which isolates Perrinet Gressart from whatever help he could expect from Varzy.
Tuesday, November 24: At the request of Charles d’ Albret, the inhabitants of Bourges send 1,300 gold ecus to the royal troops. The siege begins shortly before this date and lasts a month.

December
Saturday, December 25: Jeanne returns to Jargeau.

1430
January
?: Meung-sur-Yevre?-Bourges.
Wednesday, January 19: Orléans.
?: Sully-sur-Loire? February

March
?: Sully-sur-Loire.
Wednesday, March 29: Lagny.

April
Monday, April 24: Melun. Jeanne waits for the reinforcements requested from Charles VII.
Tuesday, April 25-May 6: Crepy-en-Valois.

May
Saturday, May 6: Compiégne
Thursday-Friday, May 11-12: Soissons. Guichard Bourne! refuses authorization to pass through the city.
Monday-Tuesday, May ·15-16: Compiégne.
Wednesday-Friday, May 17-18: Crépy-en-Valois.
May 19-21: Jeanne waits for reinforcements.
Monday, May 22: Return to Compiégne.
Tuesday, May 23: Capture of Jeanne d’Arc before Compiégne. Philip the Good comes from Coudun to Margny to see Jeanne.
Wednesday, May 24: Clairoix?
May 27 and 28: Beaulieu-les-Fontaines.

July
Monday, July 10: Departure from Beaulieu.
July 11-early November: Beaurevoir.
Asked whether she spent a long time in the tower of Beaurevoir, Jeanne answered: “Four months or thereabout.”

November
Thursday, November 9: Arras.
November 21-December 9: Le Crotoy.

December
Wednesday, December 20: Crossing of the estuary of the Somme between Le Crotoy and Saint-Valery.
Saturday, December 23: Jeanne arrives at Rouen.

January
Tuesday, January 9: Rouen. First day of the trial. Inquest undertaken at Dornremy and Vaucouleurs.
Saturday, January 13: The assessors read the information so far gathered on the Maid.

February
Tuesday, February 13: Oath swearing by the officers of the court appointed by the bishop of Beauvais.
Monday, February 19: Summons sent to the vice-inquisitor.
Tuesday, February 20: The vice-inquisitor questions whether he has competence in the matter. A new letter from the bishop of Beauvais.

Wednesday, February 21: First public session. Jeanne is presented to the court.
Thursday, February 22: Trial sessions.
Saturday, February 24: Trial sessions.
Tuesday, February 27: Trial sessions.

March
Thursday, March 1: Trial sessions.
Saturday, March 3: Trial sessions.
Sunday- Friday, March 4-9: Meeting, before which Jeanne does not appear, in the residence of the bishop of Beauvais.
Saturday, March 10: Trial session in prison.
Monday, March 12: Second session in prison.
Tuesday, March 13: The vice-inquisitor takes part in the trial for the first time.
Wednesday, March 14: Sessions in prison.
Thursday, March 15: Sessions in prison.
Saturday, March 17: Sessions in prison.
Sunday-Thursday, March 18-22: Meetings in the residence of the bishop of Beauvais.
Saturday, March 24: The transcript of questions and answers read to Jeanne.
Monday, March 26: Regular (“ordinary”) trial sessions begin.
Tuesday, March 27: The seventy articles are read to Jeanne.
Wednesday, March 28: The seventy articles are read to Jeanne.
Saturday, March 31: The seventy articles are read to Jeanne.

April
Monday-Thursday, April 2-5: Deliberation of the assessors and drafting of the twelve articles.
Monday, April 16: Jeanne falls ill after eating a carp sent her by the bishop of Beauvais.
Wednesday, Apri 18: Charitable exhortation delivered to Jeanne in her cell.

May

Wednesday, May 2: Public admonition.
Wednesday, May 9: Jeanne threatened with torture in the great tower of the castle.
Sunday, May 13: Formal dinner party hosted by Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, to which are invited the bishop of Beauvais, the bishop of Noyon, Louis of Luxembourg, Earl Humphrey of Stafford, and others. Late in the evening, they go see Jeanne in her prison cell.
Saturday, May 15: Deliberation of the masters of the University of Paris and of the masters and doctors present in the palace of the archbishop of Rouen.
Wednesday, May 23: Explanation of the charges and admonition to Jeanne by Pierre Maurice, canon of Rouen, in the castle of Bouvreuil.
Thursday, May 24: Public sermon in the cemetery of Saint-Ouen followed by Jeanne’s “abjuration.” She is led back to the English prison, where she dresses in women’s clothes.
Monday, May 28: In prison, Jeanne resumes men’s clothes; the charge that she is a relapsed heretic is opened.
Tuesday, May 29: Deliberation of the doctors and other assessors.
Wednesday, May 30: Jeanne is burned alive in the Old Marketplace at Rouen.

June
8: Notification of Jeanne’s execution sent to the princes of Christendom.


Related events after her death
1449 (?) Charles VII requests that Pope Nicholas V authorize a new trial for Jeanne.
1450
January 15 Rehabilitation process begun. Intermittently conducted until 1456.
March 4-5 Royal inquiry conducted by Guillaume Bouille.

1452 May 2-9 Ecclesiastical inquiry into Jeanne’s life begun by Cardinal Guillaume d’Estouteville and Inquisitor Jean Brehal.

1455 June Pope Callixtus III authorizes a new trial and permits Jeanne’s mother and brothers to have an inquiry into the circumstances of her trial begun.

November
November 7: Retrial of Jeanne begins. Jeanne rehabilitated, and the former verdict annulled by the archbishop of Rheims.
November 17: Paris. Guillaume d’Estouteville, papal legate to France (and cousin of Charles VII), opens the first session of the new trial.

December
December 12: The trial moves to Rouen.

1456
January 28: Inquest begins at Domrémy.
February 12-March 16: Inquest at Orléans.
July 7: Rouen. The trial adjourns, declaring the nullity of the 1431 trial, on the basis of procedural flaws.

1458 November 28: Death of Jeanne’s mother Isabelle.

1903 February Formal proposal of canonization is made.

1904 January Pope Pius X accords Jeanne the title “Venerable.”

1909 April 11: Jeanne given the title “Blessed.”

1920 May 16 Jeanne canonized by Pope Benedict XV."

2. Background from {[https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/]}
"
1. Brief Biography
2. The sword used by Jeanne d’Arc
3. Jeanne tells of her visions.
4. Jeanne’s Battle Standard and Pennon

Brief Biography
Born in 1412 to Jacques and Isabelle d’Arc in Doremy, France. Her mother taught her domestic skills and religion, and she was known throughout the region for her kindness to others. During her childhood, France was fighting a war not only against the English but also against a French splinter group from Burgundy. When she was 13, Jeanne began hearing revelations from God through the voices of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. Over the next five years, these voices instructed her to lead the siege at Orleans, and bring Charles to Reims for his crowning — and drive out the invading English troops.In February of 1429, she traveled to Chinon where she met with the Dauphin Charles on March 9th. She received the Dauphin’s approval to win back the city of Orleans which she and her men took in just one week. In July of 1429, the Dauphin Charles was crowned King of France in the cathedral in Reims. After his crowning, the king soon lost interest in Jeanne’s advice. But she kept fighting on until she was captured in battle against the Burgundians. After a year she was handed over to the English by the Burgundians. The English condemned Jeanne as a witch and a heretic. She was finally burnt at the stake in market square in Rouen on May 30th, 1431.
In 1920, almost 500 years later, Pope Benedict XV read the bull of canonization declaring her a saint.
The details of the life of Jeanne d’Arc form a biography which is unique among the world’s biographies in one respect: It is the only story of a human life which comes to us under oath, the only one which comes to us from the witness-stand.
Short Biography
Jeanne d’Arc was a peasant girl who became a national heroine and the patron saint of France. At a crucial period of the Hundred Years’War, she led the French resistance to English invaders and turned the tide of the war. A mystic visionary, Jeanne was ultimately captured and imprisoned by the English and condemned by an ecclesiastical court to be burned at the stake in 1431. She was 19 years old.
The France of Jeanne’s youth was torn by civil war. The Treaty of Troyes (1422) had recognized the claim of England’s Henry V to the French throne, and his heir, supported by the duke of Burgundy, was accepted as king in all parts of France controlled by England and Burgundy. The dauphin Charles, last heir of the Valois line, had no rights under the treaty but was supported by the Armagnac party, and controlled part of France south of the Loire River.
Jeanne was born into a peasant family in the village of Domrémy in Lorraine about 1412. By the age of 13 she began to hear what she described as her “voices,”whom she later identified as the Archangel Michael and Saints Catherine and Margaret. Over the next few years these voices urged Jeanne to find an escort to the dauphin, from whom she was to receive an army and drive the English out of France. She resisted the voices until 1428, when she first approached the Armagnac captain Robert de Baudricourt at nearby Vaucouleurs. Baudricourt refused her at first, but her persistence finally convinced him to give her an armed escort to the dauphin’s court at Chinon in February 1429. By then the English had laid siege to Orléans, the strategic gateway across the Loire into the dauphin’s territory.
When Jeanne met the dauphin, she was able to convince him of her divine mission (some say by relating to him a private prayer he had made to God). After having her examined by a group of clerics and advisers at Poitiers to ensure her orthodoxy, Charles gave her titular command of an army. She was given armor and her own banner (reading “Jesus, Mary”), and brought to the army at Blois, 35 miles southwest of Orléans. She is said to have expelled prostitutes and forced her men to go to confession, give up foul language, and swear to refrain from looting civilians. Her army lifted the siege of Orléans on May 8, 1429, and pushed on to victories in several other cities to arrive at Rheims, where, in accordance with tradition, the dauphin was crowned King Charles VII of France on July 17. After the coronation Jeanne begged the king to deliver Paris from the English, but Charles was uninterested, preoccupied with trying to negotiate peace with Burgundy.
While Jeanne was fighting on the outskirts of Paris, the king withdrew his forces, and Jeanne spent a restless winter at court. In May Burgundy renewed the war, laying siege to Compiègne. Determined to help, Jeanne led a small army of additional troops into the city on May 23. That afternoon she led a sortie outside the city and was ambushed by Burgundian troops. Staying in the rear guard, Jeanne was trapped outside when the gates of the city were prematurely closed, and was captured. Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, refused to ransom her and sold her to the English for 10,000 francs. Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais and a longtime supporter of the Anglo-Burgundian party, was charged with organizing an ecclesiastical court in Rouen (deep in English territory) to try Jeanne for witchcraft and heresy. Yet against inquisitorial custom, she was held in an English military prison with male guards, a situation that put her in constant danger of rape.
The only known contemporary portrait of Jeanne d'Arc. By Clément de Fauquembergue, the secretary of the Palement of Paris. The artist had never seen Jeanne d'Arc. This fascinating plain, small line drawing shows her as a small determined woman carrying her army’s sacred banner in one hand and a sword in the other. The drawing was made in the margin of the Orleans city record manuscripts on the day she got the English armies away from the city and freed the countryside around Orleans May 10. 1429
Jeanne’s trial lasted five months, and is well documented, including her often witty and confident replies to her interrogators. Ultimately, however, threatened with execution and torture, she signed a document abjuring her voices on May 24, and assumed female attire as the court directed her. But by May 28, condemned to perpetual imprisonment, she had resumed her male clothing and recanted her abjuration. She was immediately considered “relapsed” by members of the tribunal. She had a quick “Relapse Trial” May 28–29 and was convicted of “idolatry” for her cross-dressing, and of refusal to submit to the authority of the church, and on May 30, 1431, was turned over to the secular English authorities and burned at the stake at Rouen as a relapsed heretic.
Peace was concluded between France and Burgundy in 1435, and in 1436, the Armagnacs recovered Paris. They regained Rouen in 1449, and early in 1450, King Charles initiated an investigation into Jeanne’s trial and condemnation. The church began its own inquiry into Jeanne’s trial in 1452. In 1453, the Hundred Years’War ended, and in 1455, a rehabilitation trial opened for Jeanne. In 1456, the Inquisition announced her rehabilitation at Rouen, in a document read publicly declaring her trial to have been tainted with fraud and errors of law, therefore rendering the Condemnation Trial null and void. Her innocence was proclaimed and her good name restored. In 1920, Jeanne was canonized, and her feast day, July 10, declared a national holiday in France.
She remains the only figure in history ever to be both condemned and canonized by the Catholic Church.


Jeanne & the hundred Years’ War’s historical background
The Hundred Years’ War is the generic name given to a succession of Anglo-French conflicts. The troubles started when Edward III of England, grand-son of King of France Philippe IV le Bel, claimed the throne of France.
Edward III attacked France and defeated King Philippe VI de Valois in Crécy (1346), and seized Calais (1347). Philippe VI’s successor, Jean II le Bon, was defeated and captured in Poitiers (1356), and had to sign the treaty of Brétigny (1360), by which a quarter of the Kingdom of France was annexed by England.
During the second half of XIVth century, King of France Charles V and Constable Du Guesclin expelled the English from most of France. In 1380, only Guyenne and Calais were still under English control. Under the reign of Charles VI, the civil war between the House of Orléans and Duke of Burgundy, as well as Charles VI’s insanity, helped the English to reconquer the lost territories.
After the battle of Agincourt (1415), the treaty of Troyes imposed the deposition of Charles VI and the regency of King of England (1420). In 1429, Jeanne d’Arc seized Orléans and crowned King Charles VII in Reims. She was caught in Compiègne and burnt at the stake in Rouen in 1431. However, the English were defeated in Formigny (1450) and Castillon (1453), and expelled from France.
They only kept Calais, which was given back to France in 1558.
The Chronology of Jeanne’s life
The official records of the Great Trial of 1431, and of the Process of Rehabilitation of a quarter of a century later, are still preserved in the National Archives of France, and they furnish with remarkable fullness the facts of her life.
The history of no other life from that time is known with either the certainty or the comprehensiveness that attaches to hers.
Sixteenth-century France named her Jeanne d’Arc and made her a national heroine. The men of subsequent centuries took her story for their plays and poems, her image for their statues.
She became the spirit of France, the maiden, the holy warrior, the Republican and Napoleonic symbol for opposition to the English and for those who would protect France from foreign domination.
In the Second World War Charles de Gaulle used her standard, the Cross of Lorraine, as the symbol of Free France.

2. The sword used by Jeanne d’Arc
Little is known about Jeanne’s sword, other than what her own words tell us–that it had five crosses upon it and that the rust was easily removed. The sword is no where else described in either her Condemnation Trial or her Rehabilitation Trial. This has left many historians scratching their heads, for they don’t know the length, weight, or height, nor the design of the hilt, pommel, or blade. The fact that her sword had a design, the five crosses, was not unusual during the early medieval period. Many blacksmiths added inlays as personal trademarks.The story of how Jeanne found her sword is perhaps the most intriguing connection to her sword. According to her own words, her voices instructed her as to its whereabouts behind the altar at the church of Saint Catherine. Jeanne had great devotion to Saint Catherine so it’s no surprise that the sword came from a church which was dedicated to her. The fact that it was found behind the alter, buried is not all together unusual. It was common practice in that day for soldiers to leave their swords or armor as an offering of thanksgiving after battle.
Many legends abound as to who might have left this sword. One is that it belonged to Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne, who halted the Muslim invasion in Europe. There are two versions of this legend. One is that Charles Martel founded the church of Saint Catherine de Fierbois and that he secretly buried his sword for the next person whom God would choose to find it and save France. The other is that he left it there as an offering after his victory at Tours. Jeanne mentions the two scabbards that were given to her to hold her precious sword. However, the ever-practical Maid had one constructed out of durable leather. This would make sense if she was to use it in battle.
The sword found at Saint Catherine of Fierbois was not her only sword. She had one that had been given her in Vaucouleurs, by Sir Robert de Baudricourt, and another that she had taken from a Burgundian soldier. When her judges questioned her about the whereabouts of the sword from Saint Catherine of Fierbois (because they certainly didn’t want any relics floating around), she refused to provide an answer, saying it did not concern the case. The only information she would give is that it was lost and that her brothers had the rest of her goods. When pressed about her own offering of sword and armor at Saint Denis she answered that she had not offered the sword from Saint Catherine of Fierbois.
So, then, after all this conjecture about Jeanne’s sword, many people wonder what she used her sword for if not to kill? Personal testimony as well as witness accounts say that she used a sword to chase prostitutes out of camp! She mentions to her judges that the Burgundian’s weapon was, “excellent for giving hard clouts and buffets.” Trial of Condemnation, February 27, 1431, Fourth Session. Some say this is how the famous sword of Catherine of Fierbois met its demise, breaking in half after swatting two camp trollops.

In this famous illustration Jeanne using the flat of the sword to beat a prostitute following the army, one of a host of such professionals driven out of the camp. She was not at all gentle on these occasions. The sword, broke it on the back of one of them.
Jeanne claimed that it was not the the Sword of Fierbois. But rumors began between the soldiers, that Jeanne had broken a holly sword made in heaven, course no could repairer it again.
The king told her later on, that she should have used a stick instead, of this holly relic heaven had send her. Many started believing that she had lost her power from that on.
The prostitutes followed the French army hoping for work when the army stopped marching and made camp. This upset Jeanne greatly, who often attempted to chase the prostitutes away. Before the siege of Paris, she rode after one and smacked her with the flat of her sword.

The Sword of Ste. Catherine de Fierbois
A Comprehensive Collection of Short Explanations
Jeanne d’Arc’s sword was called the “Sword of St. Catherin” and had five crosses on the blade, according to Catholic lore. She had found it in a room behind the alter of the church Sainte Catherine de Fierbois. The sword she started with was found under the floor behind the altar of the church. She did not retrieve it herself; when offered a sword, she said where the one she would use would be found, and an armorer or ‘platemaker’, was sent from Tours to see if it was where she said it was. It had been buried for a long time. After the siege of Paris, the Fierbois sword disappeared. She would never say what happened to it. From that point on she used a sword she had captured from a Burgundian.
In the Middle Age, the church of Fierbois, dedicated to Sainte Catherine, patron of soldiers, was renowned for its miracles. On her way to Chinon, Jeanne arrived here in 1429 to meet the Dauphin. The church has always been a pilgrim centre on the way to Saint Jacques de Compostelle and was a very important place in the Middle Age.
Instead of the sword the king offered her, she begged that search might be made for an ancient sword buried, as she averred, behind the altar in the chapel of Ste-Catherine-de-Fierbois. It was found in the very spot her voices indicated. The blade was so covered in rust it would have been impossible for her to describe it without having seen it before.
The descendants of Jeanne’s brother, Pierre, had in their possession three of her letters and a sword that she had worn. The letters were saved but Jeanne’s sword was lost during the chaos of the revolutionary period. She testified at her trial that she never used those arms personally, only displaying her famous banner.
Jeanne’s Voices had told her that there was an ancient sword hidden somewhere behind the altar of St. Catherine’s at Fierbois, and she sent De Metz to get it. The priests knew of no such sword, but a search was made, and sure enough it was found in that place, buried a little way under the ground. It had no sheath and was very rusty, but the priests polished it up and sent it to Tours, whither we were now to come. They also had a sheath of crimson velvet made for it, and the people of Tours equipped it with another, made of cloth-of-gold.
But Jeanne meant to carry this sword always in battle; so she laid the showy sheaths away and got one made of leather. It was generally believed that his sword had belonged to Charlemagne, but that was only a matter of opinion. I wanted to sharpen that old blade, but she said it was not necessary, as she should never kill anybody, and should carry it only as a symbol of authority.

In the Journal du siège and Chronique de la Pucelle, Jean Chartier, writes about the sword used by Jeanne d’Arc and the circumstances by wich it was acquired: The King wanted to present her with a sword, so she asked for that of Sainte Catherine de Fierbois. “on lui demanda si elle l’avoit oncques veue, et elle dit que non”……..
A black-smith was sent from Tours who found the sword amongst several other ex-voto that had been left in a trunk behind the altar. ( From1415 and the beginning of the battle of Azincourt, armed soldiers would come and offer all or least some of their weapons in thanks to Sainte Catherine who had protected them in battle ). It is amongs these weapons that Jeanne’s sword was chosen.
According to the Duke of Alençon, Jeanne’s sword was destroyed in Saint Denis, when she lanced it through the back of a prostitute, most probably after the failed attack on Paris. It seems that Jeanne was in the habit of stiking her sword across the backs of any prostitutes that she would come across; such incidents being reported in Auxerre by Jean Chartier and this page, Louis de Coutes for the stage of Chateau Thierry.
The destruction of the sword upset everyone, who considered it to be a bad omen, and negative feelings about the Paris campaign in general were beginning to increase. Charles, who was especially superstitious, took the sword-breaking incident to mean that the attack on Paris was doomed.
Charles VII showed himself to be most displeased upon hearing that the sword had been destroyed, as amongst Jeanne’s companion, the sword was reputed as a somewhat magical weapon, and therefore its’ destruction was seen as a bad omen. We have no clue as to what became of the broken pieces.
The altar

The sword kept at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Dijon
A sword of the time of Charles VII. Mysteries and theories
This sword is characterized by numerous inscriptions. On both sides of the blade can be seen that the coat of arms of France and the city of Orléans. A warrior figure kneeling at the foot of a cross. The date 1419 is repeated three times on the one hand, twice the other.
A sword of Jeanne d’Arc?
Curator of the museum, St. Charles Févret Mémin, released for the first time questions and allegations on the subject in 1831 the connection between these inscriptions and Jeanne d’Arc. The Burgundian historian focused on the insistent repetition of the date 1419, which refers to him the murder of assassination of Duke John of Burgundy in Montereau. In particular, the small size of the lever proves to fit the hand of a woman.
The museum’s archives have shown that the sword was heavily restored in 1832 and confirms that the sword was purchased in 1826 to the grocery store Bertholomey, but without information about its origin. Testimonials from old weapons specialists Studies of ancient weapons specialists, the latest of Fabrice Cognot have a more critical approach, because of the emergence of the compound objects. The blade is made of two welded parts actually goes back to the beginning of the fifteenth century. Handle and knob which was neither consistent nor functional, seems to come from other weapons later.
A commemorative sword from the religious wars (the second half of the sixteenth century). It is highly likely that this object, which was proposed in the 1930s by La Martinière, is a testimony of Jeanne Orleans and Guise on the fight with Catholics against Protestants. On the blade, seen a kneeling before a cross, a monument erected on the bridge to Orleans in the early sixteenth century. The sword would have been used in ceremonies of live demonstrations of Maid and could have been used by Charles de Guise in 1591. After the death notes from 1641 mentions “old SWORDS which is engraved: Jehanne de Vaucouleurs, maid of Orleans”.
Searches by a relic of Jeanne d’Arc
It is striking that this hypothesis about Joan of Arc’s sword is formulated two years after her beatification (1909), while the prospect of canonization, which came in 1920, was the lead researcher of the relics of that time. As far as we know about this museum piece, was the sword was even the subject in 1934 in an identification which used paranormal methods: a dowsing pendulum was placed over the sword with along with the letter to the people of Jeanne de Reims in 1430.
The pendulum “responded by turning direct (positive) “on this experience, and the sword was so then authenticated … Even more surprising, the museum received the same year, a loan of” precious relic “in St. Denis-de-la -Chapelle, to be honored . Even a pilgrimage was organized!
This sword, the inscriptions refer to Jeanne d’Arc, has attracted many assumptions. In 2011 it was presented at an exhibition at the National Museum of Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages (Paris) which gave a further opportunity to recall the countless many debates about this fascinating topic. On the Jeanne d’Arc’s 600 birthday (2012) came again has highlighted the issue. The press, highlight this often difficult as a “mystery” or “a beautiful legend”




3. Jeanne tells of her visions.
From: Saint Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
The last and perhaps most significant miracle attributed to Jeanne is her recovery of the Sword of Fierbois.
After receiving her armor and horse Jeanne was offered a sword. She refused saying that God had already chosen a sword for her. She then gave instructions that were to be given to a certain church. They were to go behind the church to a certain spot and dig. There they found her sword. Covered in rust the armorer was amazed as the flakes of rust fell off leaving the sword perfect. The subject was dropped now for a while, and Beaupere took up the matter of the miraculous sword of Fierbois to see if he could not find a chance there to fix the crime of sorcery upon Jeanne.
“How did you know that there was an ancient sword buried in the ground under the rear of the altar of the church of St. Catherine of Fierbois?” Jeanne had no concealments to make as to this:
“I knew the sword was there because my Voices told me so; and I sent to ask that it be given to me to carry in the wars. It seemed to me that it was not very deep in the ground. The clergy of the church caused it to be sought for and dug up; and they polished it, and the rust fell easily off from it.”
“Were you wearing it when you were taken in battle at Compiègne?”
“No. But I wore it constantly until I left St. Denis after the attack upon Paris.”
This sword, so mysteriously discovered and so long and so constantly victorious, was suspected of being under the protection of enchantment.
“Was that sword blest? What blessing had been invoked upon it?”
“None. I loved it because it was found in the church of St. Catherine, for I loved that church very dearly.”
She loved it because it had been built in honor of one of her angels.
“Didn’t you lay it upon the altar, to the end that it might be lucky?” (The altar of St. Denis.)
“No.”
“Didn’t you pray that it might be made lucky?”
“Truly it were no harm to wish that my harness might be fortunate.”
“Then it was not that sword which you wore in the field of Compiègne? What sword did you wear there?”
“The sword of the Burgundian Franquet d’Arras, whom I took prisoner in the engagement at Lagny. I kept it because it was a good war-sword – good to lay on stout thumps and blows with.”
She said that quite simply; and the contrast between her delicate little self and the grim soldier words which she dropped with such easy familiarity from her lips made many spectators smile.
“What is become of the other sword? Where is it now?”
“Is that in the procès verbal?”
Beaupere did not answer.
“Which do you love best, your banner or your sword?”
Her eye lighted gladly at the mention of her banner, and she cried out:
“I love my banner best – oh, forty times more than the sword! Sometimes I carried it myself when I charged the enemy, to avoid killing any one.”
Then she added, naïvely, and with again that curious contrast between her girlish little personality and her subject, “I have never killed anyone.”



Jeanne testified at her trial february 27, 1431
As described by Jeanne at her trial she sent a letter to the clergy at St. Catherine de Fierbois with instructions for locating a sword at their church.
“When I was at Tours or at Chinon I sent to seek a sword which was in the church of Saint Catherine of Fierbois, behind the alter, and it was found at once all covered with rust.”
Inquisitors:
How did you know that this sword was there?
“This sword was in the earth, all rusty, and there were upon it five crosses, and I knew it by my voices…. I wrote to the prelates of the place that if they please I should have the sword and they sent it to me. It was not very deep under ground behind the alter, as it seems to me, but I do not know exactly whether it was before or behind the altar. After this sword was found, the prelates of the place had it rubbed, and at once the rust fell from it without difficulty. There was an arms merchant of tours who went to seek it, and the prelates of that place gave me a sheath, and those of Tours also, with them, had two sheathes made for me: one of red velvet and the other of cloth-of-gold, and I myself had another made of right strong leather. But when I was captured, it was not that sword which I had. I always wore that sword until I had withdrawn from Saint-Denis after the assault against Paris.”
Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses, p. 61-62

4. Jeanne’s Battle Standard and Pennon
Source: Pernoud, Clin, T.F. Mills, Jean Claude Colrat & wikipedia
The banner of Jeanne d’Arc
By T.F. Mills. sep. 1998
Jeanne was not canonised until 1920, so there is no question of her flag being associated with sainthood, at least not officially. The white cross and fleurs-de-lis of France are attributed to her and Charles VII. She approached the King with her vision and plan for liberating France from the English, and thereafter led her troops in battle with a personal heraldic standard. She carried it personally and did not actually fight. After relieving the siege of Orléans in May 1429, she carried her standard at the coronation of King Charles at Reims. She was apparently carrying it when she was wounded at the St. Honoré gate of Paris in September 1429.
I am not sure how much of this is legend, or if anybody really knows what the standard looked like. (I have seen representations that were almost all white, and others that contained a lot of colour.) It allegedly contained the words Jesus, Maria and fleurs-de-lis, and perhaps other religious motifs like angels. The white cross (whether or not it was included on her standard) was intended to be a contradiction of the English red cross, meaning that England was subject to France and not vice versa, and the multiple fleurs-de-lis represented the unity of the disparate parts of France.
At her trial in 1431, Jeanne described the banner in her own words:
“I had a banner of which the field was sprinkled with lilies; the world was painted there, with an angel at each side; it was white of the white cloth called boccassin; there was written above it, I believe, JHESUS MARIA; it was fringed with silk.”
I don’t think any other reliable evidence of the banner survives, so it is pretty much up to artistic interpretation. Some of her relics were allegedly preserved, but what purported to be her banner was burned during the French Revolution.

Jeannes banner
The banner was painted at Tours, while Jeanne was staying there, before her march to the relief of Orleans. A Scotch painter named James Power made it. The account for payment, in the “Comptes” of the Treasurer of War, gives: “A Hauvres Poulnoir, paintre, demourant à Tours, pour avoir paint et baillé estoffes pour une grand estandart et ung petit pour la Pucelle . . . 25 livres tournois.”
The description of this banner varies in different authors. The following account is compiled from them. “A white banner, sprinkled with fleur-de-lys; on the one side, the figure of Our Lord in Glory, holding the world, and giving His benediction to a lily, held by one of two Angels who are kneeling on each side: the words ‘Jhesus Maria’ at the side; on the other side the figure of Our Lady and a shield with the arms of France supported by two Angels” (de Cagny).
This banner was blessed at the Church of Saint-Sauveur at Tours (Chronique de la Pucelle and de Cagny). The small banner or pennon had a representation of the Annunciation.
Banner: A knight who led a significant number of troops into battle was entitled to carry a banner. This banner, emblazoned with his device or a badge or a recognizable symbol, was useful for rallying troops inn the confusion of battle. The form of the banner was largely dependent upon the rank of the knight and size of his contingent.
Knights with small household units, called lances or on their own typically bore a small triangular pennant rather than a banner. Knights with larger groups were known as knights banneret, a rank that seems to have been vaguely formalized during the 14th century.
Jeanne’s battle standard was made from a material called Buckram, similar to an artist’s canvas with a silken fringe. It measured 3 feet high by 12 feet long.

Shrine of Jeanne d'Arc in Notre-dame de Reims
There was also a third banner round which the priests assembled daily for service, and on this was depicted the Crucifixion
(Jean Pasquerel – chaplain and confessor of Jeanne).
Another banner is mentioned by the Greffier de la Rochelle, which Jeanne is said to have adopted as her own private pennon. It was made at Poitiers; and represented on a blue ground a white dove, holding in its beak a scroll, with the words, ” De par le Roy du Ciel.”

Marina Warner in Joan of Arc (1981) implies that all this is nonsense, writing (p. 194):
In 1612, a certain Jean du Lys petitioned the king, then Louis XIII, that as the principal branch of the family of Joan of Arc had died out, he might take over their coat of arms, the lilies of France. He claimed that he bore the cadet branch’s arms, a shield azure with a golden bow, set with three arrows. This is the first mention anywhere of any such armorial bearings, and when Louis allowed Jean du Lys to quarter them with lilies, he authenticated in retrospect a coat of arms that was entirely spurious. But then the claim itself was hollow, since no descendants of Joan of Arc’s brothers have ever been traced by genealogists.
In other descriptions of the banner, it is said to include Jesus and Mary together, and Jesus alone holding in his hands the world.
In short, there does not seem to be a reliable reconstruction of Joan’s banner even though her judges at her trial were obsessed with its possible heretical nature and alleged powers of witchcraft.
A rendition of the Ingres painting (XIXth century) of Joan at the coronation of Charles VII can be seen here. I don’t know much about the painting, but I would guess that Ingres deliberately showed little detail of the banner rather than make a statement that could be interpreted as the definitive version.
Jeanne d'Arc armour before Orléans. Panthéon II Painting by Jules Eugène Lenepveu
Jeanne d'Arc at Rheims for the coronation of king Charles VII. Panthéon III Painting by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, 1886 to 1890
“Mrs. Oliphant” in Jeanne d’Arc (1926) interestingly writes (p. 62):
A repetition of this banner, which must have been copied from age to age, is to be seen now at Tours. I have found no more recent corroboration that such a banner existed, nor a description of it as it allegedly existed in 1926.
Mary Milbank Brown in The Secret History of Jeanne d’Arc (1962) depicts the crest from the coat of arms of Charles du Lys (1612), which shows a waist-up figure of Joan on the helm with a sword in one hand, and her banner in the other. The banner is very different from other depictions in that it is a true vexillum – with at the top a seated Virgin Mary flanked by two angels, two fleurs-de-lis above the angels, and three fleurs de lys in the field below this scene.
Brown claims that the King granted arms to Joan’s brothers and ennobled them with the name “du Lys”. She writes about the 1612 crest (p. 441):
This armorial design … is important because on it is preserved what may be regarded as the authentic standard of the Maid, all others having been legendized to misrepresent her true matriarchical convictions. In this vexillum the figure of the Great Matriarch, Isis-Maria, sits supremely alone on the throne, holding in her left hand the vesicular representation of her organ of generation, and in her right hand the symbol of the fleur-de-lis which in ancient times was ever the bird. The two fleurs-de-lis at the top of her standard represent figuratively the two breasts; primitively the ideograph for breast was merely the sign of the Greek cross as tetradic footprint of the dove or pigeon, placed over each mammary protuberance. Immediately below, the two fleurs-de-lis are preserved in their ornithic significance as ‘angels’, that is, birds in human winged form, kneeling in adoration to the Queen of Heaven. The three fleurs-de-lis in the lower half of the standard, omitted in the other du Lysian coats of arms, represent the kingdom of the Ile-de-France. The two sections of the banner symbolize the Church of Gaul of Virgin Mary-worship in superior position to the Kingdom of the Ile-de-France in subservient station, but with both the ecclesial and thronal halves as one kingdom politically. The later legendized standards of her proselytizing show God the Father seated upon the throne supported by two masculine saints replacing Goddess the Mother and her two angels.

A Study of Jeanne d’Arc’s Standard
By Jean-Claude Colrat “Les Compagnons d’ Arms de Jeanne d’ Arc”
There is historical proof that Jeanne d’Arc had three ensigns (an ensign is a national flag displayed with special insignia or a standard of a military unit.) Two were for military use: her Battle Standard, which was large in size and her Pennon which was small. The third was a religious banner made for the priests and men of the army to assemble around for morning and evening prayers.
The treasurer of Charles VII, Hémon Raguier, paid an artist to create Jeanne’s Battle Standard and Pennon. It is noted in his accounts: “Hauves Poulnoir (Hamish Power), banner painter of Tours, is to create for The Maid, on ‘baillé’ (burlap) fabric a large standard and small pennon, at the cost of 25 livre tournois.” For the third, Jeanne’s Chaplain, Father Pasquerel, declares at Jeanne’s trial of Nullification in 1456 that Jeanne asked him “to make a banner for the priests to gather around.”
All three images that Jeanne used to symbolize her mission came directly from the New Testament. According to the interpretation of Jeanne’s Rouen trial testimony, her Battle Standard depicted the final coming of Christ in judgement. The author of the Journal of the Siege of Orleans states that Jeanne’s pennon had the image of the Annunciation painted on it. Father Pasquerel testified that the Crucifixion scene was painted on the banner.
Standards and Pennons
Before continuing, it is very important to explain the different military ‘ensigns’ that were used during the Middle Ages. [The author uses ‘ensign’ instead of “flag” because the word flag was not used in Jeanne’s time as it was not invented yet.]
There were THREE ensigns of knighthood. Going from the least to the most important were:
The PENNON also called the SMALL STANDARD was triangular in shape. The newly dubbed knight used the Pennon. He was called “knight graduate” or “knight with pennon.”
The BANNER was square or rectangular in shape, with the height larger than its width. In modern terms it was used to ‘advertise’ who the knight was. These knights were called “Bannerets” and they commanded the forces assigned to them.
The STANDARD was very long, usually 3 feet in height and 12 feet in length, ending with two tails. The knight who commanded or directed the battle used the Standard. These three ‘ensigns’ were carried as heraldic (coat of arms) symbols of the knight.
Towards the end of 14th century, the organization of the army changed. The knightly classifications of “bannerets” and “with pennon” disappear at the beginning of the 15th century and were replaced by ‘Head of War’ and ‘Captain of the Company.’ Yet both of these two heraldic classifications continued to be carried in each company:
A knight who commanded a company of mounted men-at-arms carried the large Standard.
The Pennon, also called the Little Standard, was much smaller in size and had only one tail. The Squire who commanded the company’s foot soldiers carried it. When the knight fought on foot he also used the Pennon because it was easier for him to handle during the battle.
Both the Standard and the Pennon used the colors of the ‘Captain of Company.’ At this time the heraldic emblem or device was replaced with a more complex heraldic design (coat of arms) or the symbol of the ‘party’ for which the knight fought. These ‘ensigns’ were often designated as ‘large’ or ‘small’ standards. Some times the Captain would also use his own heraldic banner.


Contemporary Texts’ Description of Jeanne’s Standard.
Various testimonies have come down to us by people who saw the standard and by others who only heard something about it. Generally these descriptions are short. Because of this there is some confusion between the large and small standard.
Dunois says that it “was white, with the image of Our Lord holding a lily.”
Father Pasquerel adds, “the image of Our Savior, sitting as a judge on the clouds of the sky, was painted on it. In addition there was also a painted angel, holding in its hands a lily, that the image of the Savior blessed.”
In May 1429, the Clerk of Albi spoke about the standard: “her standard on which was painted Our Lady.”
In a letter of July 9, 1429, the Italian merchant Antonio Morosini wrote “she carries also a white standard on which Our Triune Lord holds in one hand the world and the other is raised in blessing. On each side (of Christ) is an angel who presents Him a fleurs de lys, as the symbol of the kings of France.”
In 1431 the Clerk of La Rochelle writes: “And made in Poitiers [in fact it was Tours – author’s note] her standard had one shield of royal blue in which there was painted a white dove. The dove carried in its beak a small streamer on which was written: “De par le Roy du Ciel” “The King of Heaven commands it.”
In the famous Journal of the Siege of Orleans, compiled around 1467, there is the following sentence: “And carried in front of her standard was the pennon, which was made from a similar white material. Painted on the pennon was an image of the Annunciation, the image of Our Lady with the angel before her presenting her a lily.”
Later in 1438, Perceval de Cagny, the duke of Alençon chronicler wrote: “She had made a standard on which was painted the image of Our Lady. At Jargeau, the Maid took her standard on which was painted God in His Majesty and on the other side… (gap in text – author’s note)… was painted the shield of France held by two angels”
In 1440, Eberhard Windecke a businessman from Mayençais wrote: “And the girl left with her banner which was made of white silk. Painted there was the image Our Lord God with His wounds, Who was seated on the rainbow. On each side (of Christ) was an angel who held a lily.”
In 1445 the Dean of the Saint-Thiébaud church in Metz said: “noble banner painted about the Blessed Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
The Burgundian chronicler Enguerrand de Monstrelet wrote in about 1453, “her standard was painted with the representation of Our Creator.”
The English chronicler Jean de Wavrin, Lord of Forestel, in about 1460 also made the same description of Jeanne’s standard.
The city of Tournai, Flanders, (modern day Belgium) was in Jeanne’s time loyal to the King of France. This city’s 1455 chronicle states: “Standard of white satin, in which Jhesus Christ sitting on a rainbow, showing His wounds, and on each side (of Christ), an angel hold up to Him a fleurs de lys.”
Lastly, the anonymous Latin poem which agrees with parts of the Trial of Nullification (1456) has Jeanne saying:
“I will carry a standard decorated with the image of the King of Heaven.”
“The kingdom’s fleurs de lys will flower around “
The poem Siege of Orleans (compiled around 1470) gives this description of The Maid’s standard:
“A standard I want to have —- Un étendard je veux avoir
“White without any another color —- tout blanc sans nulle autre couleur
“Where inside will be a sun —- Où dedans sera un soleil
“Glittering with zeal —- Reluisant ainsi qu’en chaleur
“And in the middle, a great honor —- Et ou milieu en grand honneur
“Written in gold letters will be —- En lettres d’or écrit sera
“These two words of worthy value —- Ces deux mots de digne valeur
“Which is to be Ave Maria. —- Qui sont c’est Ave Maria.
“And above more notably —- Et au dessus notablement
“Will a beautiful and comely —- Portraitée bien et joliment
“Portrait of Majesty —- Sera une majesté,
“Made great by His Authority —- Faite de grande autorité
“At His two sides will sit —- Aux deux côtés seront assis
“Two angels, each one holding —- Deux anges, que chacun tiendra
“In one hand a fleur de lys —- En leur main une fleur de lys
“The other the sun will support.” —- L’autre le soleil soutiendra.”
Jeanne Describes her Standard.
At her trial the Rouen judges asked Jeanne about her large standard.
Question: When you were at Orleans, you had an ‘ensign’ (this word is normally translated in English as standard). What color was it?
Answer: I had a standard whose field was sown with lilies. There was a figure of Christ holding the world and on each side of Him was an angel. It was made of a white fabric called “boucassin”. Written above: Jhesus Maria, as it seems to me, and it was fringed in silk.
Question: Who prompted you to have painted on your standard angels with arms, feet, legs, and clothing?
Answer: I have already answered you.
Question: Did you have them painted as they came to see you?
Answer: No, I had them painted in the way they are painted in the churches.
Question: Did you ever see them in the manner they are painted?
Answer: I will tell you nothing more.
Question: Why did you not have painted the brightness that comes to you with the Angels and the Voices?
Answer: It was not commanded me.
Question: Were these names, Jhesus and Maria, written in top, below or on the side?
Answer: On the side, as it seems to me.
Question: Who had you make the painting on the standard?
Answer: I have told you enough that I did not do anything but by the command of God.
Question: Who carried your standard?
Answer: It was I who carried the aforementioned sign when I charged the enemy. I did so to avoid killing any one. I have never killed a man.
Question: What significance was there in the two angels and God’s holding the world.
Answer: Saint Catherine and Saint Marguerite said to me that I should take and carry the Standard boldly on the part of the King of Heaven.
Question: Did the two angels that were painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel?
Answer: They were there only for the honor of Our Lord, Who was painted on the standard. I only had these two Angels represented to honor Our Lord, Who was there represented holding the world.
Question: Were the two Angels represented on your standard those who guard the world? Why were there not more of them, seeing that you had been commanded by God to take this standard?
Answer: The standard was commanded by Our Lord, by the Voices of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, which said to me: ‘Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven’; and because they had said to me ‘Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven,’ I had this figure of God and of two Angels done. I did all by their command.
Question: Did you have them painted as they had appeared to you?
Answer: I had them painted after the manner they are painted in the churches.
Question: Did you ask them if, by virtue of this standard, you would gain battles wherever you might find yourself, and always be victorious?
Answer: They told me to take it boldly, and that God would help me.
Question: Which gave most help, you to your standard, or your standard to you?
Answer: The victory either to my standard or myself. It was all from Our Lord.
Question: The hope of being victorious was it founded in your standard or in yourself?
Answer: It was founded in Our Lord and nowhere else.
Question: If any one but you had borne this standard, would he have been as fortunate as you in bearing it?
Answer: I know nothing about it. I wait on Our Lord.
Question: If one of the people of your party had sent you his standard to carry, would you have had as much confidence in it as in that which had been sent to you by God? Even the standard of your King, if it had been sent to you, would you have had as much confidence in it as in your own?
Answer: I bore most willingly that which had been ordained for me by Our Lord; and, meanwhile, in all I waited upon Our Lord.

Presentation of a copy of the flag of Jeanne d'Arc by Lord Tyrrell Ambassador of England to Mr. Doumer. Press photograph 1932 (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

My Interpretation of Jeanne’s standard
By Jean-Claude COLRAT “Les Compagnons d’ Arms de Jeanne d’ Arc”
The Great Standard
Ithink the fabric of Jeanne’s standard was entirely white. All the witnesses and Jeanne herself spoke only about the white color. There is nothing exceptional about the fact that the gold fleurs de lys were placed on a white area rather than blue. Why? Because all the regimental flags of the Kingdom of France in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, excluding the time in and around the French Revolution, as well as the period of the Restoration (1815-1830) had gold lilies on a white field. Moreover, in heraldic art (art of the blazon or Coat of Arms) and in vexillology (the science of the flags), gold and silver or white and yellow are, associated with the divine, for example the coat of arms of Jerusalem and the Papal States and now the Vatican’s the flag.
The standard’s silk fringe had an alternating pattern of yellow and white. It was almost one inch wide (2.5 cm). In French this type of fringe is called, “componée.”
Because the fabric was only a single thickness, the decoration painted on the front showed through to the back. The standard makers overcame this problem by first applying the gold leaf for the lettering and the fleurs de lys to both sides after which then they painted the images only on one side. Actual sheets of thin gold were attached to the fabric by first applying a thin layer of a fatty substance onto the cloth after which the gold leaf was beaten into the fabric. In French this technique is called “appliquées et battues.”
Painted on the broadest part of the standard, the part closest to the pole, was the Apocalyptic image of Christ Who was seated on a rainbow, with the wounds in His side, hands and feet exposed. He was shown wearing a light red tunic and a bright red cloak. His right hand held the world (a blue sphere) and His left hand was raised in blessing. Christ was surrounded in an iridescent golden ‘mandorle.’ [English ‘the Aureole’]
According to Jeanne’s own testimony, “such as is painted in the churches,” the usual representation of the Apocalyptic Christ, for her time, showed Him flanked by two angels. One is, the angel of justice, Saint Michael, who is armed with a sword, and the other is the angel of mercy, Saint Gabriel, who held a natural lily. Next to these figures and towards the tail of the standard, were written the names, “Jhésus Maria” in large gold letters. The white field of the standard’s tail was covered with fleurs de lys. These fleurs de lys were painted parallel to the edge of the standard that was attached to the pole. The gold lettering and the fleurs de lys were painted thusly for aesthetic reasons because this part of the standard usually hung in a vertical position.
The standard was intended to be carried on horse-back, and was used as a rallying point for the troops. The pole was extremely long, the length of a war lance, or approximately 18 feet (5.50 m) in length.
The fabric was 11. 5 feet long (3.56 m) and approximately 2.6 feet (80 cm) width at the point where it was attached to the pole. This formed a triangular shape.
Depending on the importance of the owner, such as the King, the length of the tail could extend sometimes more than an additional 19.2 feet (6 m). Thus creating a standard that was 28.8 feet long!
Even on horse back, the man who held the Large Standard needed a great amount of strength and skill to be able to hold the deployed ensign. The rider who carried the standard was equipped with a special saddle called in French, “selle de bannière” or the “banner saddle.” Often the larger standards were simply planted at the highest part of the ground where it was used as a rallying point.
We know from various testimonies that Jeanne often held her own standard while in combat. At her trial she stated the reason why, “to avoid killing anybody,” adding that she “liked forty times more her standard than her sword”.
But the question remains did she mean her large or small standard?
The Pennon also called the Small Standard.
According to the Orleans’ Siege Journal, the heroine entered the city, on the evening of April 29, 1429. The crowd pressed itself against Jeanne and her horse so much that one of those who carried a torch approached so near her small standard (Pennon) that the fire caught on to it. Jeanne turned her horse and came to her pennon where she extinguished the flames. “The men-at-arms held the sight with great wonder!” According to the majority of historians, this short history explains how the pennon was destroyed.
For my part, I do not think so. Why? Because the pennon was an essential piece of equipment for any company commander as it was used to indicate the position of the captain (like the “Commanding Officer’s Flag” is used in modern armies.) Either, only a small part was burned and repaired or it was entirely remade. On foot and in the middle of a battle, Jeanne could not have handled the large standard. This leaves only the possibility that she used the Pennon, which she could carry.
The “small standard,” (Pennon) was triangular in shape with only one point, and as its name indicates, was more modest in size than the large one, thus making it easier to handle by a combatant on foot, as Jeanne did most of the time. The length of the Pennon’s fabric ranged between 4 to almost 5 feet long (1.30 to 1.50 m). The part of the fabric that was attached to the pole was approximately 2. 6 feet wide (80 cm). The Pennon’s pole was undoubtedly shorter than the Standard’s lance, and did not exceed 10 feet (3 m).
The author of the Journal of the Siege, who was an eyewitness, wrote: “was painted like an Annunciation, that is the image of Our Lady having in front of her an angel presenting her with a lily.” It also was a small standard, about which Perceval de Cagny speaks of when he says The Maid, “made a standard on which was the image of Our Lady” and the Dean of Saint-Thibaud church in Metz mentioned: “the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
The principal and constant rule reasons that if large and small standards were different, then the backgrounds and the gold lettering were identical. The angel painted on the pennon’s white fabric represents the archangel Gabriel presenting a natural lily to the Virgin Mary. This scene was accompanied by the words written in gold letters “Jhesus Maria” finally gold fleurs de lys were placed on the remainder of the white fabric surface as it was with the standard. Like the standard, the pennon was bordered with a yellow and white componée silk fringe. Because the fabric was only a single thickness, the decoration was the same on the front and back. To overcome this problem the gold lettering was placed on both sides and in the same area of the pennon.
Because of several witnesses’ testimony it is virtually certain that the same image on the pennon was seen on the front and the back. These witnesses said they saw a dove painted over an azure area holding in its beak a streamer with the inscription “De par le Roy du Ciel” (The King of Heaven commands it.) Because a dove is shown as part of the Annunciation image it is apparent that the dove represented God, The Holy Spirit. Thus it was the Holy Spirit Who is testifying that Jeanne’s message came from God.
Thus the pennon with the image of the Annunciation and the standard with the image of the last Judgement formed a whole, which symbolized Jeanne’s mission from the beginning to the end, the alpha and the omega.

"The field of it was sown with lilies, and therein was our Lord holding the world, with two angels, one on either hand. It was white, and on it there were written the names Jhesus Maria, and it was fringed with silk." In Her Own Words, p. 26

"I asked my Lord's messengers what I should do. And they answered me, saying, Take up the banner of your Lord. And thereupon I had a banner made." In Her Own Words, p. 26"



FYI GySgt Gary CordeiroPO2 (Join to see)MSG Felipe De Leon Brown COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) ChristensenTSgt George Rodriguez SPC Matthew Lamb SSG (Join to see)Maj Robert Thornton SFC (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarland MSG Andrew White Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson SP5 Mark Kuzinski CWO3 (Join to see) PO1 William "Chip" NagelCapt Rich Buckley

SGT (Join to see) New to me. Most interesting.

A little bit late for her.