Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/363

 JOAN OF ARC. 347 field, and large numbers were captured, including Talbot, Scales, and others of note. Thus in little more than six weeks all the leading English captains were slain or in captivity, except Fastolf, whose flight from Patay Bedford avenged by tearing from him the Order of the Garter. Their troops were dispersed and dis- pirited, their prestige was gone. It was no wonder that in all this one side recognized the hand of God and the other that of the devil. Even the Norman chronicler, P. Cochon, says that the Eng- lish would have abandoned France if the regent would have allowed it, and that they were so dispirited that one Frenchman would chase three of them.* A letter written from the court of Charles VII. to the Duke of Milan three days after the triumph of Patay, recounting the marvels of the previous weeks, shows how Joan was regarded and how rapidly her legend was growing. At her birth the villagers of Domrem}^ were joyously excited, they knew not why, and the cocks for two hours flapped their wings and uttered a song wholly different from their ordinary crowing. Her visions were described in the most exaggerated terms, as well as her personal prowess and endurance. The relief of Orleans, the capture of Jargeau, Mehun- sur-Loire, and Beaugency, and the crowning mercy of Patay were all attributed to her : hers was the initiative, the leadership, and the success ; no one else is alluded to. We are told, moreover, that she was already predicting the deliverance of Charles of Orleans, a prisoner in England for fifteen years, and had sent a notice to the English to surrender him.f It could no longer be doubted that Joan was under the direct inspiration of God, and when at Gien, on June 25, there was a con- sultation as to the next movement, though Charles's councillors ad vised him to reduce La Charite and clear the Orleannais and Berri of the enemy, it is no wonder that he yielded to Joan's urgency and gave his assent to a march to Keims. The enterprise seemed a desperate one, for it lay through a hostile country with strong cities along the road, and the royal resources were inadequate to equipping and provisioning an army or providing it with siege- (Ed. Vallet de Viriville, p. 456). t Epist. P. de Bonlavillar (Pez, Thes. Anecd. VI. in. 237).
 * Chronique, pp. 438-41.— Jean Cliartier, pp. 26-7.— Chron. de P. Cochon