ABOUT A CERTAIN MAID
A short play in three acts concerning Joan of Arc, narrated by Jean De Halliday
The Players
Jean De Halliday (JDH) The narrator
Jeanne Darc, also known as Pucelle
A voice, who speaks to the maid
Jean d’Aulon, Squire to the Jeanne Darc
Louis and Raymond, pages to Jeanne Darc
Brother Richard, A Friar
Pierre Darc, Jeanne’s brother
Jean De Halliday (JDH)
The year is 1425, and I, your narrator, Jean De Halliday, look on in horror as France tears itself asunder. A bitter conflict between the Royal house of Orleans, the Armagnacs, and the House of Burgundy has raged for nearly twenty years, and whilst this flame of civil war burns, the English warrior king, Henry, has sought to make the whole of France his kingdom too.
Azincourt has long since seen the French army humiliated, and seven years later, the French King Charles VI has sought to establish peace with the English by marrying his daughter Catherine of Valois to King Henry. The marriage will bind the two royal houses, and the French King Charles has denied succession to his own son, proclaiming that Henry V of England shall be regent and heir to France.
But the Armagnacs will denounce this treaty, signed in Troyes in 1420. They reason the king belongs to the crown and not vice versa. When a son is born soon after to Henry and Catherine, a son of England is destined to be king of both countries. The stage is set then, but both kings, Henry and Louis, will die with but two years since the signing of Troyes. The Dauphin Charles and his supporters, the House of Armagnac, seem destined to be swept aside by the powerful English and their Burgundian allies. Is there anyone that can galvanise The Royal House of Orleans to fight back?
But wait, someone whispers in my ear……
A Voice
Troubador, know that there will be a pure girl, armoured and carrying an axe of God, who will rescue France from its invaders, and see the crown placed on the head of the Dauphin.
JDH
Who speaks in my ear? And of whom do you talk?
A Voice
I have given my message to Marie Robine of Avignon, and to Merlin. They have already foretold of a virgin, carrying a banner and dressed as a man, who will save you. She comes from Domremy, in the Duchy of Bar. I have spoken to this maid, Joan Darc, as have my sisters, Catherine and Margaret. She will go first to Valcouleurs, then onwards to Chinon to speak with the Dauphin, and from there she will see the Dauphin crowned, and the English defeated.
JDH
Then on to Chinon we will travel, in the year 1429, where Joan, the maid, will meet with the Dauphin. Of the voice who spoke to me, I can tell you no more, but perhaps the Maid will know to whom it belongs.
ACT ONE
THE PALACE OF CHINON
JDH
The Dauphin has finally granted Jeanne an audience. He has listened with great interest to the young girl, and has been convinced by the archbishop of Embrun, Jacques Gélu, an eminent theologian and staunch Armagnac, that the girl speaks on behalf of God, and not the Devil. Jean Gerson, another theologian known to the court, has proscribed a process known as “discernment of the spirits” which enables the discernment between true revelations from heaven and trickery from hell, and Jeanne has passed this test to the king’s satisfaction.
Now Jeanne has been lodged in the great keep of the Tour Du Coudray at Chinon. She has been appointed a squire, Jean D’Aulon, and two pages, the fourteen-year-old boys Louis and Raymond, to assist her. We can see that the four of them are examining the suit of armour that has been handmade by the king’s armourer for her, and the banner that she will carry.
Her squire, one of whose duties is to prepare her armour and weapons, is examining a sword.
Jean D’Aulon
Jeanne, this sword that you carry. Tell me of its provenance, as I see it is an old weapon.
Jeanne
I asked the Dauphin to send to the town of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois and fetch a sword hidden in the church there. I was told that this sword would smite the English so hard they will scurry back to their white cliffs like rabbits pursued by dogs.
Louis the page
Jeanne, how did you come to know of this sword? Did you see it in the church as you passed through from Vaucouleurs?
Jeanne
One who speaks to me only told me of its whereabouts. I said I would have it fetched to me. The Dauphin agreed and arranged for its collection.
Raymond the page
I have heard that the sword was hidden inside a coffer at the high altar, unopened for these twenty years. The person who speaks to you must be magical.
Jeanne
There is no magic. Only God’s words told through his servants. These angels whisper in my ear. I have explained this even to the Dauphin.
Louis the page
Angels? So more than one speak to you? Do you know who they are?
Jeanne
Yes. It is the archangel Gabriel who speaks to me. But sometimes I talk to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who was tortured on a spiked wheel and martyred, and sometimes I talk to Saint Margaret, who defeated a dragon before she too was martyred.
Jean D’Aulon
Truly, you are a remarkable girl, Jeanne. And of this banner?
Jeanne (feeling the cloth in her small hand)
It is as I ordered. The golden fleurs-de lis of France amid a white field. I asked that the words Jhesus Maria be sewn next to an image of the Christ and his angels. I will carry this also into battle, should these English invaders not heed my demand to leave France.
Jean D’Aulon
Are you not afraid, Jeanne? The English and their traitorous allies, the Burgundians, have proven too strong for the king to resist. Even now, they lay siege to Orleans.
Jeanne
Afraid? No! I am angry. I am vengeful. And I will help our new king be crowned, and see the wretched English thrown back across the sea, or die on the point of my sword.
JDH
And so it was that Jeanne prepared to fulfil her destiny. She led the French armies against the English and their Burgundian allies into battle outside the walls of Orleans. In just seven short weeks, she pushed their armies back and freed the city from its siege. A Burgundian knight named Jean Waurin who fought with her, wrote in his chronicle: ‘by the renown of Joan the Maid, the hearts of the English were greatly changed and weakened, and they saw that Fortune was turning her wheel harshly against them. By these acts she acquired so great praise and renown that it seemed to all men that the enemies of King Charles would have no power of resistance in any place here she was present, and that by her means the king will shortly be restored to his kingdom despite all those who wished to gainsay it.’
Joan knew that this would come to pass. Next, she would lead the king to his coronation. And it is to the court of Reims we must now go.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
A CORONATION
JDH
And so it was that on the 29th June 1429, the royal party set out at the head of an army of thousands to travel to Reims for a coronation. They had to pass through Troyes, a city where the people had sworn allegiance but nine short years ago to the duke of Burgundy and to King Henry of England, proclaiming him to be the lawful successor to King Charles the Well-Beloved. A garrison of English and Burgundians stood ready to defend the town against the pretensions of the so-called Dauphin and his army of traitors. The presence of the young girl called the maid would not cower them, either.
Within the walls of the town was a man well qualified to judge the girl’s claims of divine inspiration: a friar called Brother Richard. The friar had preached warnings a few short weeks ago to the people of Paris, telling of the coming of an Antichrist. Now he had brought his apocalyptic message to the citizens of Troyes, who now sent him out to discover whether Joan had come to them from heaven or hell.
We shall listen to Brother Richard as he meets with the maid.
Brother Richard
You say that you hear the voice of the Archangel Gabriel. How do you know that this is not the voice of Satan or one of his acolytes?
Joan
Friar, you call yourself a man of God, and yet when he speaks to you, you choose not to listen. Do you pray?
Brother Richard
Of course I pray. Do you not see my robes? Do you not see my cross that I wear?
Joan
I wish for two things, Brother Richard. That the rightful king of France is crowned and that France is given back to its people. I am to lead my king to victory and see his enemies swept aside. Do you know how I know these messages are from God?
Brother Richard
Tell me.
Joan
Bend your head close to me. Listen to what will tell you.
JDH
The friar knelt and held his ear close to the lips of the girl. She whispered softly to him. The friar listened, and then suddenly rose, his face pale, his eyes widening. He crossed himself and then knelt again before the girl.
Brother Richard
Forgive me for having doubted you.
JDH
The friar grasped the hands of Joan and kissed each one. He crossed himself again.
Joan
It is not for me to forgive you. That is for God to grant. Now you must return to the people and tell them I speak the truth.
Brother Richard
God is with you, Joan. I will do as you ask.
JDH
The friar returned to the town, but not with the answer that the people there had been hoping for. They had thought him to declare her a heretic, or a witch, to be condemned like the mandrake roots – kept by the foolish in the superstitious belief that they would bring earthly riches – which he had tossed onto the bonfires in Paris. No – instead he brought back with him a letter the maid had dictated the day before her arrival outside the walls of Troyes, addressed to the town’s inhabitants. She brought them word from the almighty King of heaven. She did not forget that the people of Troyes were Frenchmen, to be welcomed back to the path of righteousness, not Englishmen to be threatened with God’s wrath. Then she told them they must submit themselves in true recognition to the noble king of France, who would soon be in Reims, whosoever may oppose him. She finished her letter with the words “If you do not do this, I promise and swear to you, on your lives, that we will enter with God’s help into all the towns which rightfully belong to this holy kingdom, and we will impose a good and lasting peace, whosoever opposes us. I commit you to God; may God preserve you, if that be his will.”
The people of Troyes would open their gates to the maid and laid down their weapons.
At nine in the morning on Sunday 17th July, forty-nine years after his father’s coronation, and seven years after his father’s death, Charles VII of France would enter the cathedral of Reims for his own consecration.
After the coronation, Joan knelt at his feet. “Noble king, God’s will is done,” she said, then began to weep, overcome with the magnitude of what heaven had helped her accomplish. As she had promised, she had brought the man she had once called the dauphin to Reims and seen him crowned.
Her second glorious task, the removal of the English from the land of France, she would not see with her own eyes, for soon she would be betrayed.
END OF ACT II
ACT III
HERETIC OR SAINT?
JDH
The date is the 2nd June 1431. Jeanne’s ashes have been scattered into the Seine some two days since. Not two years have passed since Jeanne knelt before her newly crowned king. Since we last spoke, the siege of Paris by the forces of the Armagnacs led by Jeanne has failed – not because of her, but because her passion and belief was not shared. Then came defeat and capture at Compiegne at the hands of the Burgundians. Did the king no longer need her? Was it his lack of faith in her that led to her downfall? The Pucelle tried to escape and was handed to her enemy, the English. Put on trial in Paris by Bishop Cauchon on accusations of heresy, which included blaspheming by wearing men’s clothing, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgment of the church, she was declared guilty and burned at the stake in Rouen on a Wednesday. She asked to see a cross before she died and was given one by an English soldier made from a stick, which she kissed and placed next to her chest. I will take you now to Clairoix, two days' ride from Rouen to a prison holding Jeanne’s squire, Jean d’Aulon and Jeanne’s brother Pierre. A guard has brought food for Jean and Pierre.
Guard (placing the food on a table next to Jean and Pierre)
I bring you news, Jean Daulon and Pierre Darc. The Pucelle is dead, burned at the stake for her heresy.
Jean d’Aulon
I thank you for bringing this news to us. Although I am saddened by the telling.
Guard (leaving the room)
Did you know the English paid 10,000 livres tournois ransom to bring her to Rouen? They wanted to be rid of her I think. I am a Burgundian, but still did not want this, for after all, she was a French girl first.
Pierre
My sister was the purest of us all. I wish that someone else had been chosen to carry the heavy burden she was given.
Jean d’Aulon
She fought as hard as she prayed. When she was twice struck down in battle, both times she carried on with no care for herself – only her quest.
Pierre
My brothers Jacquemin and Jean must be told.
Jean d’Aulon
To me, she was my knight. To you, she was a sister, and that is harder for you. Did she speak to you about her revelations? I asked her myself and she told me she had three counsellors-one who was with her always, another who came and went, and a third whom the other two consulted. I begged her to let me see them, but she told me I was not worthy or virtuous enough.
Pierre
Jeanne told me she had been watching animals in the fields when a voice first came to her, saying that God had great pity for the people of France, and that she must go to the king. She said that she had cried and that the voice had told her she must not doubt her mission.
When she told me these things, I questioned that if God had wanted to save the people of France, surely He would have no need of soldiers. Do you know what she replied to me?
Jean d’Aulon
No.
Pierre
She said that in the name of God, the soldiers would fight and that God would give them victory.
Jean d’Aulon
Did you ask her in what language the voice spoke?
Pierre
She answered to me “a better language than yours!” Jean, my sister, was not a heretic. She was not an apostate, nor an idolater. I hope now she can rest in peace, and that her unsullied name will be remembered whenever the glorious story of her victories is told. I will pray for her now – my sister – the maid.
JDH
And so it was that Jeanne Darc, a teenager from Domremy, changed the course of history. She was a simple girl, and at her trial, the judges had tried to confuse, harass and exhaust her, but still she answered their questions with wisdom beyond her years. It was the English, out of hatred and fear, who had controlled the trial, paid for it, and pressed it to its tragic conclusion.
And after her death, you ask, what happened? Twenty-five years later, the verdict of her trial would be overturned, with Jean D’Aulon testifying in her favour.
Finally, in 1453, the hundred years war between France and England would end when the city of Bordeaux would surrender to the French King, leaving Calais as the only English possession in France.
Jeanne would be the only woman to be put to death by the judgement of the church, and then declared a saint by the same church. She had not been martyred for her faith, but killed for political motives, through the enmity of those whom she has defeated in battle.
I will leave you now with a last question. Has there ever been a greater French woman?