Whom the Bell Tolls

[Rupert_137]

In 2020/21 I posted some stories about witch hunts in the early modern period, which unfortunately are no longer accessible here...

I'm making a new attempt here with a historical story that takes place in the late Middle Ages...


Whom the Bell Tolls – The last Hours in the Life of Jeanne d’Arc

This is an attempt to write a brief story of what Jeanne d’Arc might have experienced and thought in the last hours of her life, supplemented by some impressions from people observing the events... I will weave into Jeanne's thoughts flashbacks of her short but eventful and very intense life.

This is an idea I've had in my head for a few years. It begins with Jeanne's last night imprisoned and all alone in the tower of Rouen Castle (Chapter 1), followed by her way to the stake in Rouen's market square (Chapter 2), where she is tied and chained to the pole, finally the fire is kindled (Chapter 3) and where she cruelly dies in the flames of the pyre (Chapter 4).


First a few important dates and facts from Jeanne's life to understand Jeanne's thoughts and the background of the story

Jeanne is born into a wealthy peasant family in 1412, as the daughter of Jacques Darc and Isabelle Romée. The spelling "d'Arc" appears later to make sure she's a noble.

Jeanne experiences the 100-year war on her doorstep, English troops repeatedly plundering through the country (see map).

In 1425, at the age of 13, Jeanne experiences her first visions, she hears the voice of Saint Catherine, she finds a sword; later the apparitions are repeated in the form of Archangel Michael and Saint Margareta. She states that she has received a heavenly commission to seek out the Dauphin and liberate France.

At the end of December 1428, Jeanne leaves her parents' house on the Maas at Domrémy. On March 5, 1429 she reaches Chinon, where, as a peasant girl at the age of 17, she receives an audience with the Dauphin.

On April 29, her train of provisions reaches Orleans, which was surrounded by the English.

On May 7, 1429, Jeanne rides forward in the Battle of Orleans. She gets hit by an arrow and still achieves a great victory.

On July 17, 1429, the Dauphin is anointed king as Charles VII in Reims Cathedral; Jeanne stands next to him with the victory flag in her hand. She had prophesied his coronation in Reims.

On September 8, 1429 Jeanne's attempt to liberate Paris from the English fails; Charles VII turns away from her.

On May 23, 1430 Jeanne is captured by John of Luxembourg near Compiègne through betrayal and handed over to the Burgundians, who sell her to the English for 10,000 francs after two unsuccessful attempts to escape.

On May 19, 1431, after three months of trial, an ecclesiastical court of inquisition chaired by the bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon, finds Jeanne guilty on twelve of the original 67 charges. If she doesn't renounce her 'false beliefs' and show herself as a penitent sinner, that means to burn at the stake.

On May 24, 1431, Jeanne was excommunicated in St. Quen Cemetery. In a public confession, Jeanne renounces her notions of a 'heavenly commission' and pleads guilty to all charges in order not to be burned at the stake. She is then pardoned to life imprisonment. But Jeanne retracts her confession and stands by 'her truth and her point of view'.

John of Lancaster, brother of the English king Henry V, takes over the proceedings. On May 28, 1431, he has sentenced Jeanne to death by a secular court as a relapsed heretic; The verdict is: burning at the stake.

On the morning of May 30, 1431, Jeanne is burned to death in Rouen's market square. Her ashes will be scattered in the Seine...

24 years later, on July 7, 1456, Jeanne is fully rehabilitated after completing a revision trial.

Jeanne d’Arc is beatified by Pope Pius X on April 18, 1909 and canonized by Benedict XV on May 16, 1920, nearly 500 years after her tragic death.

[Rupert_137]

Here the story of her last hours follows…

Chapter 1 – Jeanne’s last Night in the Tower

Tower of Rouen Castle in the early hours of May 30, 1431

Sleep was out of the question, Jeanne kept jerking up on her sparse bed of straw because fear and panic seized her. Cold sweat clung to her thin linen shirt, her ankle chains rattled... It was now the end of May and no longer cold in the tower, but she was still freezing. How long has she been locked up? A whole, agonizingly long year, filling her with increasing despair... But this would be her last night; tomorrow the pyre awaited her, terrible humiliation and even more horrid suffering... before a cruel death relieved her of excruciating pain and despair...

Her young life had only really begun. Why did it have to come to this? She was afraid, terribly afraid... Why had God and the saints forsaken her? Would another miracle happen? Was there any tiny hope? The king of France whom she had convinced of her mission, whom she had accompanied to the anointing in Reims... would he help her after all? No, there were far too many English soldiers here in Rouen; the city resembled a fortress and was much too far removed from the free, or liberated, French territories...

Jeanne tried to pray, she invoked the saints who once commissioned her to visit the Dauphin of France... She tried to invoke Saint Catherine, who had appeared to her first; then she asked Archangel Michael to help her; she prayed to Saint Margareta, also to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary... But she found no contact, found no rest, she was left alone... No vision wanted to appear to her, no voice spoke to her... like back then, almost a child at 13 years old. And the apparitions repeated themselves… Yet locked here in the tower, for months there had been no holy voice speaking to her, giving her courage.

What had become of her glorious victory in Orleans, the city she could free? The arrow that hit her, that could mean her death... But she found the strength to get back on her horse and, badly wounded, defeated the English. God and the saints had stood by her, but why had they abandoned Jeanne now?

So many memories and confused thoughts ran through Jeanne's mind... Her great victory at Orleans and her great honor in Reims at the side of the king was followed by her failure before Paris, then her capture... For endless months she was imprisoned in towers handed over by the Luxembourgers to the Burgundians, sold to the Englishman... Desperate escape attempts failed, which only worsened her situation as she was put in chains... Then the inquisition trial that dragged on for so long... Absurd accusations, humiliations... her brave replies... but anyway a terrible judgement.

Now she faced her total defeat and the triumph of her enemies. Enemies who wanted to destroy her and her memory... She had been made a heretic and a witch... An ecclesiastical court of inquisition had found her guilty of her superstitions, heresies and other serious crimes against the divine majesty and wanted to condemn her to death at the stake as a heretic. However, in the eyes of many people, she now was a witch who worshiped and bonded with demons wickedly.

In her fear, she had publicly recanted in a cemetery and pleaded guilty to all charges in order to escape the flames of the pyre. But only to be imprisoned for life, further tormented and humiliated by the English. No, that was horrible and pointless! She had recanted... She had to stand up for the truth and she had to recant!

It wasn't demons she was sworn to...it were saints who commissioned her to liberate France when she was a child. What a tall order for her as a peasant girl? Too big an order! Left in the lurch by the king, she had to fail in this assignment. And yet she had been chosen and now abandoned.

It had started really well, at just under 17, Jeanne had moved away from her parents and from the small village of Domrémy on the Meuse where she lived, traveling through enemy country to Chinon. First she had spoken to Robert de Baudricourt, the city commander of the fortress of Vaucouleurs and had been able to convince him, had received protection and accompaniment... Then she got an audience with the Dauphin and she was even able to inspire him with her ideas and visions...

The future king had given her a commission and she had successfully carried provisions to the besieged city of Orleans. And she had gone into battle, won a great victory and driven the English from the Loire... The King had knighted her... She, the peasant girl, was full of hope and enthusiasm to liberate France from the English and occupiers. But then things had taken a terrible turn, she had been betrayed and captured by the enemies...
Now she should be a heretic and a witch who opposed the divine order, who had allied herself with demons and for whom the pyre awaited... Jeanne thought back to the terrible, last few days... when events hit her with great force and she was in dire need.

Instead of cold, Jeanne suddenly feels hot flashes... After her confession of guilt and her humiliation in the cemetery a week ago, she was in despair, but two days later she had found the strength to recant... She knew what that meant... And it did get worse. The next day, guards barged into her cell. They kicked and punched her, tearing off her dress to leave her naked. Then they threw men's clothes to her...

Of course, Jeanne knew that she was not allowed to wear this clothing. It was a violation of divine order and that was one of her charges... But they wanted to force her to do so. The men came back, accompanied by an English nobleman in fine clothes, who wanted to rape her... In her distress she had kicked and screamed, tried to turn away.

She wore no chains. Three guards grabbed her wrists and ankles, turned her onto the back, pulled her arms over the head, and pulled her legs apart. "Don't be shy," one shouted "Show the nobleman your ridiculous small tits... and show us all your wet and horny pussy... Let's see if you're really a virgin!" Even now Jeanne trembled and sobbed at the thought of it.

"The girl is ready for you, sir. We know how to tame young witches.” With these words she was brutally presented to the nobleman to be raped, completely helpless and shameful. But he was probably not in the mood to desecrate her in front of so many spectators. The nobleman bent down, pinched her tits viciously, made a derogatory gesture and pulled away.

While the guards left her on the ground whimpering and continued to mock her, she had grabbed the men's clothes and hastily put them on. The guys laughed dirty and they were satisfied except for the embarrassed nobleman.
"You witch put a spell on the noble lord. You will pay for that!” she was insulted, threatened and kicked again before the men left.

A day later she was dragged into the castle before a secular court. The trial was short; she was a relapsed and unreasonable heretic. There was no pardon and the verdict from the Inquisition process was upheld. Only two days later she was to climb the pyre... For the first time she faced John of Lancaster in the court, her opponent from Orleans. Her brilliant victory over the brother of the English king had turned into a bitter defeat...

And last evening they had come to cut off the hair on her head. Jeanne had also worn short hair in battle because it was practical... But this was a terrible humiliation for her as a woman. "So that you don't burn like a torch tomorrow," they said. When she was alone in her cell again, she cried for a long time…

Jeanne looked worriedly at the narrow gap in the tower wall and realized that it was dawn outside. She got up with a start, her heart pounding... How many hours did she have to live? How would she die in the flames of the pyre? Fear and panic seized her again and she tried to pray to the saints...

Finally she found some peace; she tried to accept her fate... Jesus also felt abandoned on the cross, she thought. Finally she heard footsteps climbing the tower and approaching her cell. The door was unlocked and suddenly Jeanne was shaking with fear.

Three guards entered. "You won't do any more magic, witch! Today you're supposed to burn. No spell will save you... But before that you'll get your last meal."

The men saw the frightened young woman's pale face and grinned. They pushed a bowl to her and left. It was the same tasteless porridge as every morning, but this time it got stuck in Jeanne's throat.

A little later the sun rose outside.


Note: Shortly before her execution Jeanne told Ladvenu, a mendicant monk to whom she confessed and confided many things, about the removal of her dress, her maltreatment and the attempted rape by an English nobleman. We do not know to what extent there were other abuses by guards during her long detention. You also should know that virgins were not actually allowed to be executed at that time...

[Rupert_137]

Whom the Bell tolls – The last Hours in the Life of Jeanne d’Arc

Chapter 2 – Jeanne’s Way to the Stake

City of Rouen, morning of May 30, 1431

According to today's Rouen city map, it is a short walk of 750 m from the Jeanne d'Arc Tower (former tower of Rouen Castle where Jeanne was imprisoned) to the large market square where she was burned at the stake. The longest part of this way leads over today's street 'Rue Jeanne d'Arc' and it certainly doesn't have this name entirely by chance. I therefore assume that Jeanne traveled this route in a slow cart on the morning of May 30, 1431 as the last journey of her young life and that there was no additional sightseeing for her through the beautiful medieval Rouen. However, the famous large 14th-century clock tower (Le Gros Horloge) was very close by, so she could hear the bell toll her last hour… Rouen Cathedral was a little further east, but surely its spires could also be seen for Jeanne.


The rest after her last breakfast lasted only a short time. Then they came; Jeanne heard noise and voices from outside, the clash of weapons, the clatter of a cart, then more footsteps. Fear and panic rose in her immediately. She found no time to pray again and when the guards entered she felt paralyzed.

The men pulled her to the feet, tore the short penitential shirt to her head and off; then they laughed at the frightened, naked girl. Two guards held her arms so she couldn't cover herself. Ashamed, she felt the men's gaze on her body and looked down.

"Today is your day of honor; so many people have gathered to see you... And you may put on a new shirt!" They threw her a plain, long linen dress, which Jeanne put on hastily. She still had no idea what consequences this long dress would have for her at the stake…

She was untied from the chain on the wall, but the short ankle chain remained between her legs, preventing her from taking long strides. They quickly tied a rope around her wrists and dragged her out of her prison cell.

Roughly Jeanne was led out of the tower, her ankle chains shuffling. She took short steps with difficulty so as not to stumble. Again and again she threatened to fall on the stairs, but she was held by both arms and pulled down forcefully.

It went out into the bright light of the early day that blinded Jeanne's eyes; for too long she was shut up in gloomy towers. She was surrounded by a lot of unrest and noise; Jeanne needed time to recognize everything.

An awful lot of English soldiers awaited her outside... She was pulled, pushed and bumped. Everything seemed to be menacing. She looked around desperately. Then her eyes fell on the monk Ladvenu, her confessor during her detention in Rouen... It was the only known and friendly face, but the man seems serious and depressed. She had confided in him, he had visited her in her cell the day before; he had tried to give her comfort... But what comfort could there be now?

Ladvenu came to her and raised his hands. He drew the cross in front of her body and spoke some Latin words; then he placed his right hand on her shaven head for a moment. The monk felt her fear, Jeanne looked pale and disturbed. It's going to be a very difficult road for her, he thought sadly.

Then, outside of the rules, he said in her language, “Place yourself in God's grace! Walk with the Lord... May God give you strength on your hard and painful last path…” The monk and confessor would follow her train, which gave Jeanne some strength again, but his words gave her just little hope.

Lavenu was pulled away. Soldiers clasped her arms tightly while a priest approached her, whom she recognized from her long trial for his insidious questions. He put a large heretic's hat on Jeanne's head and pulled it down to her face. She couldn't read what was written on it. Surely there were accusations and charges intended to humiliate and insult her... At least the hat covered her bald head, but it was annoying to wear it so heavy and low on her face.

Jeanne was dragged to an open cart and pushed onto it. Her chains rattled again and it was difficult for her to get up. She felt men's hands on her bottom, pushing and pinching her. "Get up there, witch! The stake is waiting for you..."

Jeanne already felt consumed by fear. Her hands were tied to the frame of the cart. She had to stand; Jeanne heard calls and orders as if in a fog. The cart pulled by a donkey slowly started to move. Her body swayed as the wheels clattered over the cobblestones. She felt weak, her knees were about to give up, and she struggled to keep herself on her feet.

Leaving the tower and castle of Rouen at her back, her path soon turned south. The people stood close together along the roadside, but pushed back by many soldiers. The sun was still low over the city to the east, but clouds were gathering from the west. It was a friendly spring day, many trees and bushes were in bloom, but Jeanne didn't pay attention to them.

There was an excited atmosphere, but most people stayed calm, there were hardly any angry shouts... Many felt what was happening here depressing, but they wanted to watch. The word had spread like wildfire the day before that Jeanne, the heroine of Orleans, was being burned here as a heretic and witch. There was also a lot of hustle and bustle during the preparations for the stake on the market square.

The burning of a young woman at the stake was an extraordinary event. People wanted to see and experience this cruel act... But they also wanted to see Jeanne; they wanted to see if she really was a woman; they hoped to discern whether she was in fact a heretic and witch, or a heroine. So much had gotten around since she was imprisoned in a tower in this city.
Jeanne tried to avoid the looks of the many people. She had already been humiliatingly tied to a cart wearing only a penitential shirt when she was driven to Saint Quen Cemetery nearly a week ago. That was not far to the north of the city. Shamefully, she was placed with her back against a post and tied there. At the edge of the large cemetery, she publicly had to renounce her true faith and confess to all the nonsensical accusations leveled against her. When she spoke softly and her voice almost failed, she was admonished to speak loudly and clearly.

Finally she was cursed by a priest, condemned and excommunicated... She was always a devout Catholic; heavenly voices had spoken to her, not demons... She had never opposed the divine order; she was not a heretic and certainly not a witch.

For Jeanne, those were moments of terrible humiliation and weakness. The priests had persuaded her beforehand, they had made her terribly afraid that she would be burned alive... Then she had become weak, had betrayed herself. And now she had to make her way to the stake after all... Where was the courage she wanted to prove when she recanted two days later and stood firm in her belief?

Suddenly Jeanne thought of the sword that she once found in a meadow as a girl. Was it a sign from God? Was it just a relic of the war? And yet, it was a heavenly sign! She seized the sword, marched through enemy country and was victorious... She made the Dauphin a king; she stood by his side in Reims... He had commissioned her to advance to Orleans; he had forged armor for her and a new sword given... That alone legitimized all her actions.

Had she already fulfilled her mission? Was she useless now? France was not liberated and she had failed before Paris. Now she was at the mercy of the cruel vengeance of the enemy, who wanted to wipe her out and damage the reputation of Charles VII. But the king and the saints, all had abandoned her... Would God stand by her and still protect her? Jeanne’s hope was gone.

Again she was paraded to the people and driven humiliatingly through this city, chained at her feet, tied to a donkey-cart, shamed by a heresy's hat. But this time she had to die in the flames of the pyre...

Once again her thoughts flew to the triumphant entry into Orleans, despite the painful injury from the arrow that struck her... She had ridden through the city on horseback and the people had cheered her enthusiastically. And here, in Rouen? Jeanne heard excited shouts, she recognized many curious and also worried faces, only occasionally was there hate that hit her.

Pascal, a citizen of the city of Rouen, had set out early, like so many others. Now he was standing on the side of the road, where the dishonored cart with Jeanne was being led along. He heard a few shouts, people pressed in, held back by soldiers. There was pushing and shoving. Someone shouted, "The heretic is coming!" A woman yelled, "There she is, the witch!" But next to him, another said, "She's a heroine!"

The cart slowly pushed past them and Pascal only caught fleeting glimpses. The young woman in front of him rocked across the copestones; she clung to the railing of the cart with difficulty; she looked very pale and absent-minded. Then he only saw her from behind, his gaze fell on the big heretic's hat. He tried to read the text, but all he saw were confused letters and text in a foreign language.

"This is wrong," Pascal thought, having heard of the heroic deeds of this young woman who liberated Orleans. But here in the north, in Normandy, the country was firmly in the hands of the English...

"Damn witch," thought one of the soldiers, struggling to push back the people who were gathering along the street, wanting a better view. “Why do all these people yearn for this heretic woman? Why do they push so hard? What is there to see? A skinny girl in a penitent shirt! I've been standing here since early morning; I'll be glad when she's burned."

It was only a short walk and she was slowly approaching her destination. Jeanne glanced across to the beautiful old town with its narrow streets, but the cart turned to the other side, to the west, to drive towards the large market square... Then she heard the bell of the large tower clock strike eight times behind her... "This will be my last hour,” she thought with horror and she had trouble hiding her tears.

Jeanne saw the market place in front of her, crowded with people and with soldiers who kept the way clear for her. She sighed and, although the heretic's hat bothered her, she looked despairingly at the sky. "Where is my salvation?"

Suddenly she recognized a pedestal in front of her with a pole on it, all around with stacked wood, the pyre! Next to it stood an open wagon, filled to the brim with brushwood. Her heart was pounding loud and hard. A little later her cart stopped and Jeanne's knees were shaking. She was untied from the railing, but her hands remain tied. She saw only English soldiers all around. Strong hands grabbed her, dragged her from the cart. They pulled her arms, grabbed her hips; she felt a hand on her thighs, other hands at her breasts.

Jeanne was scared and confused. They tied a rope to the shackles between her hands. Then she was dragged like a head of cattle across the marketplace to the stake, pulled and escorted by English soldiers. With the chains between her feet, she had trouble walking with small steps. Her legs trembled, her feet would not walk, she went unskillfully, the chains rattled… The leg irons ached with every step and she almost stumbled; but the soldiers laughed at Jeanne.

"Where's your courage, girl? I thought you were a heroine," one scoffed. Another soldier said, "She's a witch but her magic won't help her here... She knows she won't be able to put out the flames with a spell, so she pisses herself in fear."

[Rupert_137]

Jeanne's Path of Suffering

Before Jeanne is facing her fiery end, I have included an aerial map of Rouen (Google), where I entered the places of her suffering (yellow bold, orange dot), along with her way from the tower to the stake (yellow dots, today's route) and to St Quen Cemetery before (green dots), as well as the places mentioned (yellow pale).

I've also included pictures of the medieval clock tower and Rouen Cathedral.

[Rupert_137]

Whom the Bell tolls – The last Hours in the Life of Jeanne d’Arc

Chapter 3 – Jeanne at the Stake

Rouen market square, morning of May 30, 1431

Jeanne was dragged and pushed past the pyre until she saw a small platform for guests of honor in front of her; thither she was led. She recognized Bishop Pierre Cauchon, who presided over her inquisition trial and also her excommunication, surrounded by other church dignitaries. But next to the bishop she saw John of Lancaster, her personal enemy, representing the English. Other English nobles and military commanders were also with him. She had to pull herself together, it seemed she was about to face humiliation at the hands of her enemies once more, like she had in the graveyard a week ago.

"Isn't it enough that they burn me?" Jeanne asked herself anxiously. "Why are they going to humiliate me again?" Her charges and sentence were read out again.

"You have the last opportunity to abjure and confess here... Then the executioner can prepare a quick death for you... But otherwise you have to burn slowly and painfully at the stake," the bishop addressed her personally. "Did you use the time to look into yourself, Jeanne?"

She shook her head and pulled herself together, "I have nothing to confess...I stand by my faith," she said quietly but calmly.

"As you wish, Jeanne... Then you must walk this painful path as a heretic."

"Hangman, take the prisoner!" an English officer shouted.

The soldiers let go of Jeanne and the executioner stood in front of her, a tall, strong man who covered his face under his hood and still carefully examined her with his eyes. An English soldier stepped forward and handed Jeanne a plain wooden cross, which she took with her bound hands almost gratefully and tucked it under her penitential shirt and between her breasts while the head of the cross looked out.

She looked up at the sky again pleadingly. Clouds had come up from the west and now covered the sun in the east; the sky was darkened. Jeanne realized that was a bad sign, there would be no rescue, but at least it was a heavenly sign for her. She clutched the cross in her shirt with her bound hands for comfort.

There was still a great deal of excitement in the large crowd that had gathered on the market square in Rouen and was being held back by many soldiers. Everyone wanted to watch what was happening, but for many the view was blocked. That would soon change; the English had erected a pedestal of plaster blocks, which were piled high enough for all to see Jeanne standing atop at the stake.

The executioner waited until Jeanne had fastened the small cross under her penitential shirt, then he grabbed the rope by her hands and pulled her away. Escorted by two soldiers, he dragged her behind him to the back of the stake, where a wooden ladder led up to the dais above the pyre. The young woman shuffled barefoot over the cobblestones, still struggling with the chains between her legs. In front of her she saw the blocks of plaster, which were about the height of her body, above them the pole, from which the chains hung that had been prepared for her. And again she was overwhelmed by her fear.

The executioner didn't give her time to linger, he pushed her towards the ladder; he pressed her bottom and urged her to climb up. The ascent was difficult for Jeanne, she felt weak, her hands were tied, chains hung between her feet.
There was no escaping her fate, so she took a deep breath and slowly climbed the stairs up to the dais, though her knees were shaking. Her heretic hat almost slipped off her head. The executioner followed her and pushed Jeanne with her back against the post. She didn't resist, she had finished with her life; she wanted to endure the cruel fate that was destined for her and end it quickly.

People were excited and happy to see Jeanne on top of the dais. The young heroine looked around at the crowd... So many English soldiers, behind them many more people… Rouen's great marketplace was filled. Behind it she recognized the old town from an elevated position, towered over by the great cathedral. Her eyes lingered on the towers; she tried to find hope on these towers rising to the sky.

The hangman quickly disturbed their longing looks. He slid her feet to either side of the post without loosening the ankle chains. He quickly wrapped another chain around her lower legs and ankles. Now there was no escape...
Startled, she looked down at the pile of wood surrounding the small dais she was standing on. She saw bundles of sticks being unloaded from the waiting wagon and scattered around her. "How are they going to get me burned?" she asked herself, startled. No wood reached to their feet. Then the executioner wrapped the second chain tightly around her waist. Jeanne felt cramped and squeezed.

"No, not so tight!" she protested in vain. But worse was to come. The hooded man unclasped her hands in front of her; but only to tie her again behind the post and her back. But to do this he used a wet rope that he tied tightly around her wrists... Soon it would tighten even tighter in the heat of the fire.

Jeanne felt panic rising in her. She tugged at her painful ropes and chains, but she could not free herself. The stake at her back was anchored deep in the ground and surrounded by the plasterboards she was standing on. It would not come loose and would not burn for a long time either...

She was still able to move her upper body, but the executioner was already grabbing the third long chain, the ends of which he led from behind over her rib cage, dragged it crossing between her breasts, pulled it up over her shoulders and led it back behind the post where he fixed the chain links with iron pins after tightening the chains vigorously.

Jeanne felt more fear and anxiety, so she cried out: "No, that's too tight... I can't breathe!" But again the executioner ignored her protests. Only her head could still move a little, otherwise she was inescapably chained and laced to the post. The hangman checked all the chains once more; then he left the small platform, leaving Jeanne alone with her fear.

Soon the bundles of sticks on four sides of the pyre were lit, smoke and flames rising. Excitement gripped the crowd, but for the young woman enthroned over the pyre, fear turned to panic. Hectic looks buzzed around, Jeanne tried to keep an eye on what was happening. But still the fire spread only slowly and it had enough distance to her body. The wind blew some smoke into her face and she started coughing, further increasing her anxiety. She could not move and it hurt to breathe, she was so tightly bound by the chains…

A priest held out a cross on a long staff to Jeanne and cried out, "Get away from her, demon! Go into yourself, heretic. May the fire cleanse your body and save your soul.” Jeanne stared at the cross in front of her face and began to pray silently to herself, this gave her a few moments of peace, after which she felt a little calmer, even if she couldn't get over her fear. Then the priest with the cross withdrew.

"I hope it will suffocate quickly!" Bishop Pierre Cauchon thought. "No, I didn't mean to do that... I would have gladly spared the brave girl that ordeal." He was realizing that it would be a long and agonizing struggle, in the way the English had piled the wood too low around the dais.

"Not only in battle she was not an easy opponent," he thought, "even during the trial, Jeanne parried most of the questions and allegations well... Of course there were a few things that were fatal to her... The trick with the men's clothes was of course malicious, but why did she retract her confession?"

On the other hand joy spread in the eyes of many Englishmen. "Now she will pay and atone for her arrogance!" thought John von Lancaster with a smile. "Now I've got my deserved victory... And she feels her worst defeat and need." But his plans went further. "That will put Charles VII in great need of explanation; he has got involved with a heretic girl and witch... How can he still deny that now? He doesn't deserve the crown of France!"

The spectators were also captivated by the rising fire. Even those who could not see much more from further back on the market square than the figure in the long penitent's dress at the pole on the pedestal; everyone saw the smoke and the rising flames. There were a few shouts: "Now she must burn, the heretic and witch!" But most of them watched what was happening with obvious excitement, but without wasting many words.

Ladvenu, her confessor and confidant while she was imprisoned in the tower for the last few weeks, felt tears in his eyes. "The poor but brave girl... How can they do something like that to Jeanne? She fought for her country and for her faith... Any man would have had a certain amount of respect from an opponent for that... But because she is a girl, the English feel a deep shame at their own defeat... And they take revenge for it now in an unimaginable cruel kind..."

Even though his cap covered his face, the executioner looked worried too. "It will take a lot of trouble to burn the girl so high on the dais, with the few and too low piled wood... And the English want me to hold back the flames..."

Jeanne twisted in her chains; soon she would be completely exposed to the fire and would not even be able to move... Eyes closed, she repeated her silent prayer, asking God and the saints for protection. In this way, she tried to ease her fear and desperation.

[Rupert_137]

Whom the Bell tolls – The last Hours in the Life of Jeanne d’Arc

Chapter 4 – Dying in the Flames

Rouen market square, morning of May 30, 1431

The fire steadily grew in power. The stacked bundles of dry birch twigs burned like tinder and slowly the thicker trunks also caught fire. The flames shot up from all sides and surrounded Jeanne on the pedestal. The people were moved by the spectacle, but only the condemned heretic on the dais felt the heat of the fire burning her skin and face. But the flames didn't reach her yet.

Jeanne looked around desperately, everywhere flames blazed up, it crackled and the beginning firestorm howled. Sweat spurted from every pore, but it evaporated faster than it could cool her. The heat on her arms, legs and face soon became unbearable. In vain she tore at her chains, which were slowly heating up, and at the cords of her hands, which were drying quickly and tightening painfully. Jeanne was completely surrounded by the fire, no one could save her now.

The executioner would have wanted to bring her suffering to a quick end now, but he had strict instructions to let the fire rage itself out first and not to throw any more fagots into the flames.

Flames spurted over the edge of the plasterboard and soon caught the hem of her long dress, which finally caught fire. In desperation, Jeanne screamed "Jesus!" and "Mary!" Her screams echoed across the marketplace, but she received no help in her distress.

The flames did not rise any further, but Jeanne's long dress began to burn above her feet, where no chains tied the fabric together... It was a cruel spectacle, but the people were moved and watched it. The young woman's cries for help from heaven gave way to a high-pitched shriek as her skirt burst into flames.

With the frantic movements of her head, the heretic hat fell off and immediately burst into flames. Only now did the viewers realize that her head had almost been shaved, but that no longer mattered to Jeanne. Smoke and hot air made her cough, flames burned the skin on her legs, and the hot fire wind made her barely able to breathe.

Jeanne felt her senses fail and she almost suffocated, but the embers suddenly collapsed, sparks rose, but the fire retreated somewhat, giving the audience more views of Jeanne in the flames at the post on the high dais.

Pain, heat, shortness of breath and panic drove Jeanne insane. The burnt fabric up to her hips fell down as ash, but the embers slowly ate their way higher through the linen, which the hot chains pressed against the girl's skin, and her skin slowly burned with it.

An English soldier standing close to the pyre was the first to notice and he called out loudly "She really is a girl!" "Of course she's a girl," said another next to him "I helped her get off the cart and I touched her soft tits..."

Many people actually had their doubts as to whether Jeanne, the winner in the battle of Orleans, was a girl or a small young man. Reports of how well she had proven herself in battle seemed too improbable to them. But her skirt was burned up to her waist and the flames had retreated a bit... Anyone standing close enough to the stake could now see between her legs that Jeanne was really a young woman, Even if smoldering scraps of fabric still covered her breasts.

While these pieces of cloth slowly burned, Jeanne squirmed in the chains, panting and in terrible agony, but her screams became hoarse and weaker and weaker.

Pascal, a citizen of Rouen, had walked from the street at her cart route to the marketplace, had skillfully pushed his way through the crowd and was able to see the pyre from the side, where Jeanne's breasts were now clearly visible between the chains and the smoldering remains of fabric...

"She's a girl," he thought too, "Of course Jeanne is a woman!" So many thoughts have been running through his mind since that morning. “She calls for Jesus and Mary; she's not a heretic and she's not a witch! The priests don't begrudge her the favor of the saints and the rum as a woman ... and the English want revenge on her.” Suddenly he felt anger and sadness.

A little later he saw the wooden cross falling from the remains of her shirt into the flames. The fabric smoldered to ash, revealing her breasts completely; but her skin was reddened, that's all Pascal could see from his distance.

"I don't have to watch this anymore!" He turned away and gave his place to other viewers who pressed after him.

Jeanne was caught in pain; she hardly noticed what was happening around her. As the cross fell, she looked once more at her breasts, which were covered with burns and blisters. That wasn't her body anymore! But she still experienced horrible pain and indescribable agony.

"God help me, let this end quickly!" she whispers weakly and pleadingly. Her throat burned and her tongue was completely dry, the hot air stinging her lungs.

The executioner decided to rekindle the fire. "We have seen enough," he shouted to his helpers, "throw brushwood into the flames!"

The fire quickly regained strength, the flames raged; they enveloped Jeanne on the pyre. Her screams fell silent quickly; she lacked the air and the strength.

She went into heat shock and felt a high fever, her heart was beating fast but weak. She dried up and suffered severe burns, but only slowly her senses completely faded. She felt as if in a trance... Before suffocating in smoke and fire, she suddenly felt completely detached and free. She hardly felt the agony of her body, which was grilled by embers and flames...

"Is this salvation? Angels from the flames, take me in your arms!” Jeanne thought before she let herself fall and it got dark around her.

Her head fell to the side, the remains of her hair roasted, her body slowly crumbled to ashes, but she was free...
Ladvenu, the monk and Jeanne's confidant in the tower prison, had to turn away, he couldn't look anymore, and it smelled like burnt flesh. He felt nauseous, he was deeply shaken... He would never forget that hour here on the market square in Rouen, he would never completely banish the horror he had observed from his thoughts.

When Jeanne's screams from the pyre died away and her body was soon hanging rigidly on the stake, a depressed mood prevailed among the French, but many Englishmen could no longer enjoy the cruel execution too. A young, hopeful life was agonizingly extinguished in the flames.

Jeanne no longer heard the 9 o'clock chime on the tower clock. Satisfied, John of Lancaster rose. "Justice has been done; the heretic has received her just punishment." Bishop Pierre Cauchon wasn't so sure, at least not about the way this execution was carried out, but he too left the scene of the horrific event with other dignitaries.

Jeanne's body finally caught fire too, her fat burned in bright flames, then her dead flesh slowly charred in the fire. Completely rigid and twisted, her blackened corpse remained hanging on the mighty pole, on which the flames were now igniting. The executioner also had the last fagots thrown into the fire, which burned out completely hours later.

The marketplace emptied; the many spectators gradually left, they had seen what they wanted to see, but they didn't want the stench of burnt flesh in their noses. And it was precisely those who were near to the stake who had often seen and heard more than they wished for later. Many were deeply affected; few felt justice at this cruel spectacle.

*****

In the evening, the charred remains of her bones were recovered from the pedestal, collected in a sack and thrown into the Seine along with the swept up, scattered ashes. Nothing earthly would remain of Jeanne d'Arc, but she couldn't be erased from people's thoughts. Her story was written and told...

To this day, 600 years later, the courageous peasant girl who left behind her origins and her 'female destiny', who was severely wounded by an arrow near Orleans and still triumphed on horseback with a sword, has not been forgotten. And she was not forgotten precisely because she had to suffer a cruel and unjust death so young after her great victory in the hands of her enemies.

"I don't want any relics, the girl shall not become a martyr," John of Lancaster had commanded. But he was wrong, even without ashes; Jeanne d'Arc was to become a martyr and a national heroine. He was also unable to weaken the reputation of the French king Charles VII. His base motives were too obvious when he had burned a courageous girl as a heretic and witch. And in the next 22 years, the English would lose this war for the crown of France, which had already plagued this country for almost 100 years and cost many lives among the English too.

Even Bishop Pierre Cauchon was wrong if he thought he was conducting a trial against a heretic and witch whose soul he could save only by her confession or by fire ... because centuries later a pope would canonize this girl. It was Jeanne's view of things, it was her conviction, which she stood by even in dire need, for which she had to die in the flames of the pyre. But even in the Catholic Church, her visions of the voices of the saints were finally to be recognized as 'truth' and her death as martyrdom, which subsequently caused her opponents at the time to be deeply ashamed.

The Catholic bishop, who had sentenced a later saint as a heretic, did no longer experience Jeanne's rehabilitation trial 24 years later anymore, which perhaps saved him from late punishment.


End

[Rupert_137]

Whom the Bell Tolls - Addendum

As an addendum to "Whom the Bell Tolls", a few notes on the documents we have today about the life and death of Jeanne d’Arc and her execution at the stake:

Most of the documents on Jeanne's life and death around 600 years ago come from the surviving trial files of the Inquisition process against Jeanne from 1431 and the revision process 24 years after her death.

From the outset, the first Inquisition trial of Jeanne d’Arc aimed to condemn her as a heretic and witch. Witnesses for the defense, therefore, did not have a chance to speak at all... In addition, the minutes of Jeanne's statements were subsequently translated into Latin and then archived. These translations always carry the risk of distorting the original statements.

The appeal process long after her death just had the reverse aim of rehabilitating Jeanne and at the same time exonerating the French King Charles VII of the accusation that he owed his success to the work of a heretic and witch. There, people from Jeanne's environment had their say, but the events about which they made statements were more than 20 years ago...


Death at the Stake

We don't know how long Jeanne's death in the flames dragged on...

Whether suffocation or burning, we must recognize that dying at the stake is always a slow, agonizing, and very cruel death.

It begins with the fear of agony and death.

Surrounded by many spectators, the victim is tied/ chained to the post, almost motionless.

The fire is lit, which the victim sees, feels and smells. There is no escape; the fear escalates into panic...
Smoke enters the lungs, forces to cough...

Flames are licking at feet and igniting clothing. The fire burns directly on the skin...

Of course, the innocent victim desperately asks and screams God/ Jesus/ Mary for help (as reported by Jeanne's execution).

The victim is slowly grilled in the heat of the flames. The skin is covered with blisters...

The pain becomes unbearable, horrible screams ring out across the square...

Until the screams die down again as smoke and hot air burns the lungs.

Severe burns follow, but one dies from them only very slowly, death from suffocation occurs first.

The exact circumstances depend on the wind, the location of the victim, the species, the dryness and the stacking of the wood. Whether the suffocation occurs after 15, 20, 30 minutes or even later doesn't make that much of a difference... For the victim it always feels like an eternity.

Only after death does the victim's body start to burn. When body fat catches fire, there can be bright jets of flame, sure to be a spectacle for viewers – especially when a woman's larger fat pads burn sequentially, beginning at the thighs and buttocks, ending with the inflamed breasts.

Soon the stench of burning flesh spreads...

It can take hours for the body to char completely and burn to ashes.


There are a few surviving documents (mostly from the rehabilitation process, 24 years after her death) for Jeanne’s execution at the stake, which roughly show the processes and which are overall consistent:

Jeanne d’Arc at the stake – Eyewitness

Here is the alleged eyewitness account of a "citizen and observer":

She was tied to a post that was on the scaffolding and made of plaster, and the fire soon was upon her, and she was suffocated and her dress was all burned up. Then the fire was kept low and she became whole to the people shown naked, and all the mysteries that can or should be in a woman, to take away the doubts of the people.
When she had been sufficiently seen tied to the pole quite dead, the executioner stoked the fire up again over her poor corpse, which was soon all burned, and bone and flesh reduced to ashes.

If the report is correct, Jeanne suffocated while her clothes burned. In fact, he could probably only observe when her screams stopped.


The subsequent, much later written account puts more emphasis on the destruction of Jeanne's body and assigns responsibilities...

A later report of Jeanne's burning at the stake

On May 30, 1431, wearing a small wooden cross and with her eyes fixed upon a large crucifix held aloft by her defender, Jeanne prayed a simple prayer. She uttered the name of Jesus Christ as the flames scorched her flesh.
One person in the crowd moved to throw additional kindling onto the fire, but was stopped where he stood and collapsed, only later to understand his error.
At last Jeanne d’Arc was silenced into death by the smoke in her lungs, but Cauchon would not be satisfied merely to kill the target of his enmity.
He ordered a second fire to burn her corpse. And still, it’s said, within her charred remains, her heart lay intact, and so the inquisitor called for a third fire to obliterate any traces.
After that third fire, Joan’s ashes were thrown into the Seine, so that no rebel could hold onto any piece as a relic.

Was it really Bishop Cauchon who oversaw the execution and gave instructions, or rather John of Lancaster representing the English? He was the one who finally took over the trial. Only he could hate Jeanne and fear her even beyond her death!
(Jeanne had stopped the English advance on the Seine at Orleans and pushed them back; she had inflicted a humiliating defeat on John of Lancaster there - Bishop Cauchon was only his willing henchman).


Statements of the executioner

The executioner's later statements testified that Jeanne was standing too high on the pedestal and the wood was stacked too low all around to cause her a quick death...


Canonization after 500 years

Finally, an interesting detail: It took almost 500 years before Jeanne d’Arc was canonized after her death. There are certainly various reasons for this long period of time. But it seems to me that it is essential that Jeanne did not have to suffer a cruel martyr's death at the hands of heathens, but through the wrongful judgment of a Catholic bishop! So her canonization was at the same time a self-accusation of the Catholic Church...

[Rupert_137]

No Torture?

Perhaps some readers will have missed scenes of torture in my story, or at least flashbacks to them in Jeanne's mind... The answer is very simple, systematic torture to extract confessions, such as that depicted by Quoom in his picture story 'Jeanne d'Arc', didn't even happen! Quoom's story is a pure torture fantasy which, although it focuses on a historical person, has no historical reality apart from the dungeon scene at the beginning and the stake episode at the end.


Why Jeanne d’Arc wasn't tortured...

The historical Jeanne d’Arc was imprisoned in different towers for a whole year in what must have been terrible conditions - first by the Luxembourgers, then the Burgundians and finally the English in Rouen. But that was the custom with prisoners back then; they were locked up in well-secured towers. There were no underground dungeons for them; no one would have bothered to build something like that. Even later, at the time of the great witch hunts in Europe, in many cities there were witch towers and ‘maleficent houses’ surrounded by walls, but normally no underground dungeons for witches – yes, many stories are wrong in this point!

But as far as Jeanne is concerned, her minimum provision was certainly taken care of. After all, the English had paid a lot of money for Jeanne d’Arc (10,000 francs, a fortune at the time), they wanted to sue her in a way, which would discredit her success and at the same time the reputation of the French king Charles VII. Not before succeeding in this they wanted to destroy Jeanne. So this woman was very important to them, the English had political plans, so they certainly would not have let the young heroine rot and starve in her prison cell.

She must have been treated in a humiliating and rough manner, and probably put in chains after her failed attempt to escape, but Jeanne never saw a torture chamber! Jeanne d’Arc lived in the late Middle Ages, not in the early Modern Period. Her trial was not about a torture-extorted confession to being a witch! It was about being accused of breaking divine order when she went into battle in armor/ men's clothing and killed English soldiers in the process (murder charge).

The facts were indisputable; but the question was whether her behavior violated the divine order even under the ideas of the time … after all she acted on behalf of King Charles VII, whom the English, however, did not yet recognize. But this was not about a fair trial, the presidency of which was taken over by the Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon, as a henchman of the English … and those had clear expectations of the guilty verdict.

Jeanne herself defended her actions with visions that gave her the divine mandate to liberate France and to prophesy to the Dauphin that he would be crowned King of France in Reims – and not the King of England would be crowned in personal union! She saw the sword she had found in a field as a girl as additional confirmation of her mission.

In connection with her visions, however, she was accused of heresy and worshiping demons. They also accused Jeanne of fairy magic. How else could she, as a peasant girl, have had an audience with the French Dauphin and even persuaded him of her ideas? How could she as a 17-year-old girl – been hit by an arrow and fallen from her horse – still lead her troops and win a victory at Orleans against the English without magic? The humiliation of the English at the hands of a young wounded French girl was really deep! Of course, Jeanne again saw a happy coincidence through the help of God and the saints – and again this was heresy in the eyes of her malevolent opponents.

The trial dragged on for three months. When Jeanne d’Arc was sentenced – guilty on 12 counts – she renounced the ‘demons’ and her own ideas about her divine mission to avoid being burned at the stake. However, realizing that the English would never set her free, Jeanne withdrew her recantation. She was strong enough to accept the pyre fire to avoid imprisonment for life – she had already spent a year in the tower! And henceforth there would have been no reason not to let her rot and die in her prison... And who knows what other humiliations the English would have come up with at the time… So she bravely stuck to her point of view.

This sealed Jeanne's fate, but it didn't require any torture! (At least no systematic use of torture to extract confessions.)

However, the allegations against Jeanne were backed up by nasty tricks, when her clothes were taken away and men's trousers were thrown into her cell instead. Instead of staying naked in her cell (sexually harassed by men) and being led naked to the interrogation, she of course put on the pants. "And behold, she has learned nothing and still breaks the divine order!" Today, this ruse seems ridiculous and helpless to her opponents... And yet it shows us that the English wanted to burn Jeanne at the stake no matter what, whether she abjures and confesses or not.


What changed in the early Modern Period, at the time of the great witch hunts?

In the Middle Ages people definitely believed in magic and sorcery, certainly also in demons. But there was no stereotypical witch image of a woman who was seduced by the devil, fornicated with him; then cast harmful spells and regularly attended the Witches' Sabbath ... where, of course, she met other witches... This absurd notion only spread with the witch bull by Pope Innocent III (1484) and the book 'The Witch Hammer' (1486) by Heinrich Cramer (Dominican and Inquisitor).

Since, of course, no accused woman admitted such nonsense, and she could not have seen other witches on the Witches' Sabbath, she had to be tortured into confessions and false accusations... And these confessions, extracted in the greatest distress, always provided confirmation for these confused Ideas... The witch craze spread and raged particularly badly for 200 years (1500 to 1700 AD).

Jeanne d'Arc was accused of practicing magic and hearing the voices of demons, not saints... But no one accused her of having sex with the devil and attending the Witches' Sabbath... Her own statements and her behavior were therefore sufficient for her conviction, even without torture. Her behavior means that as a woman she wore men's clothes and she went into battle like a man. Provided, of course, her commission from the French king was not acknowledged … and her heavenly voices and the found sword were not recognized as a divine commission too.

And for her public confession in the cemetery, which was revoked a little later, the threat of being burned at the stake was enough if she didn't show her remorse...

[Rupert_137]

Jeanne d’Arc, one of the most important women in European Middle Ages

Jeanne d’Arc died only 19 years old, and yet we still remember her... In France, she is still very present today, 6 centuries after her death.

What other person in history is well known to us today who hasn't reached the age of 20?

Of course it is her tragic fate, but not only that; she really achieved great things. At the age of 17, she left her destiny as a marriageable woman and peasant girl behind. As a girl, she traveled alone through enemy country for weeks to visit the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne, and to convince him of his true task and future as King of France... But large parts of the country were occupied by the English, and their rulers claimed the crown of France too.

Not only did she manage to speak and to convince the future king, he also commissioned her to bring a train of provisions through to Orleans, a city that was under siege by the English. Jeanne was not only able to bring provisions to Orleans with the assembled troops, she was able to end the siege of the city victoriously and prevent the English from advancing further across the Seine... Jeanne, a then 17-year-old peasant girl who was wounded by an arrow in a fight, really performed extraordinary. Even if it was perhaps just her example and enthusiasm that helped the French win.

Two months later, Jeanne accompanied Charles VII to his coronation in Reims, a city previously cut off from free France, behind the sphere of English and Burgundian influence. The peasant girl stood beside the king and was elevated to the peerage... What a triumph, what an honor!

Weeks later, her luck ran out before Paris, and a year after her victory at Orleans, Jeanne's fortunes took a tragic turn. She was betrayed and taken prisoner; another year later she was burned at the stake by her enemies as a heretic and witch.

Today, the allegations made at the time seem absurd to us. Because Jeanne went into battle as a woman, wearing men's clothing and armor, she was a heretic. Because she heard heavenly voices as a girl, was able to convince the French heir to the throne of her ideas and, injured by an arrow, still victoriously led the ranks of the French, she was a witch...

Today, a career as a soldier would be open to a peasant girl in many countries around the world... But no reputable army would accept her at the age of 17, let alone put her at the head of the troops! At the time this was almost impossible, but Jeanne succeeded.


Jeanne d’Arc as a fascinating personality

Today, Jeanne appears to us as a young woman with exceptional charisma, determination and persuasiveness. She had religiously motivated visions of a divine commission and she showed great national pride. She also did not feel bound by social norms, which were very important at the time and were barriers that were difficult to overcome. Jeanne overcame these barriers as if they didn't exist.

Back then, religion played a much greater role in people's lives than it does today, but national feelings and actions hardly existed in the ordinary population at that time. It really didn't matter to the people whether an English or French king ruled over them... The main thing was that he granted them security, free trade, a supply of goods and he didn't torment them with excessive levies and taxes. But none of this was guaranteed in a war...

Dealing with the life and work of Jeanne d’Arc almost inevitably evokes great respect. Despite her tragic end, Jeanne changed the course of European history. Without her, the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) would certainly have lasted even longer and it might even have ended differently. The English had not only occupied large parts of France, including Paris, they had also been quite successful militarily up to that point... Jeanne's intervention did not bring a quick victory, but it was the turn of the war at Orleans ... and this as a 17-year-old girl in the outgoing Middle Ages!

For me, Jeanne d’Arc is one of the most important and remarkable women of the European Middle Ages, which is also why I wrote this story.